\ 


LATIN  AMERICA 


CLARK  UNIVERSITY  ADDRESSES 

NOVEMBER,  1913 


EDITED  BY 

GEORGE  H.   BLAKE^SLEE 

Professor  of  History,  Clark  University 


NEW    YOnK 

G.  E.  STECnERT  AND  COMPANY' 
1914 


'o 


Copyright 
Clark  Universitt 


COMPOeED  AND  PRINTED  AT  TBI 

WAA'KnLV  PUICSS 
Bt  the  Williams  &  Wilkjns  Compant 
Baltimobe,  U.  S.  a. 


Jl     ^ 


Q  X-- 


•V 


^^'^  CONTENTS 

Introduction.     Dr.  George  H.  Blakeslee vii 

I.  Contrasts  in  the  Development  ok  Nationality  in  the 
Anglo-  and  Lati.n-American.  Scfior  Don  Kcderico  A. 
Pezet,  Envoy  Kxtraoniinary  and  Minister  Plenipoten- 
tiary from  Peru 1 

II.  Pan-.Vmerican  Po.ssiHiLiTiEs.  JoliTi  Rurrctt,  Director- 
General  of  the  Pan-American  Union,  formerly  United 
States    Minister    to    Siam,    Argentina,    Panama    and 

Colombia 20 

III.     A  Glance  at  Lati.n-.-Vmerican  Civilizatio.n.     Francisco 
J.  Yanes,  Asst.  Director,  and  Secretary  of  the  Govem- 

iug  Board,  of  the  Pan-American  Union 30  ^ 

IV.    The   Mexican   Situation    from    A   Mexican   Point   of 

Vif;w.     Lie.    Luis   Cabrera,    recently   Speaker   of    the 

House  of  Representatives  in  the  Mexican  Congress.  .  .     47 

V.    The  FrNDAMENTAL  Causes  of  the  Present  Situation 

in  Mexico.     Nevin  C).  Winter,  Author  of  "Mexico  and 

Her  People  Today" M 

VI.     The    Mexican    Situation.     S.    W.    Reynolds,    formerly 
^  President  of  the  Mexican  Central  Railway  Company, 

Limited 82 

VII.     Democracy  on  Trial.     John  Ilowland,  D.D.,  President  of 

Colegio  Internacional,  Guadalajara,  Mexico 95 

VIII.     The  Present  Situation  in  Mexico  as  Shaped  by  Part 
Events.     Leslie   C.   Wells,    Professor   of   P'rench    and 

Spanish  at  Clark  College 104  ^' 

The  Present  Day  Phase  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine. 
F.  E.  Chadwick,  Rear  Admiral,  United  States  Navy, 
Formerly  President  of  the  Naval  War  College;  Chief 

of  Staff  to  Admiral  Sampson  in  the  Spanish  War 108 

X.  The  Monroe  Doctrine  From  A  South  American  View- 
point. Honorable  Charles  H.  Sherrill,  Envoy  Extra- 
onlinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  to  Argentina, 

1909-1911 121 

XI.    Should   We   Abandon  the  Monroe   Doctrine?    Hiram 
Bingham,  Ph.D.,  .Assistant  Professor  of  Latin-American 

History,  Yale  University 126 

The  Monroe  Dwttrine.     Honorable  George  F.  Tucker        151 
The  Modern  Meaning  of  the  Monroe  D«xtrine.     J.  M. 
Callahan,   Ph.D.,   Professor  of  History  and  Political 
Sc-^nce,  Wot  \'irginia  University  161 

XIV.     The  Monroe  Doctrine.     Albert   Bushncll   Hart,   LL.D., 

Profe&,'or  of  CJovemment,  Harvard  University 172 

XV.     The  Development  of  Our  Latin-Ambrican  Trade.     Hon. 

John  Hays  Hammond,  LL.D.  176 

V 


VI 


CONTENTS 


y      XXI. 


XVI.  Advantage.s  of  Making  the  Canal  Zone  A  Free  City 
AND  Free  Port.  W.  D.  Hoyce,  Publisher,  The  Sat- 
urday Blade  and  Chicago  Ledger 181 

XVII.    Some  Economic   Facts  and  Conclvsions  About  South 
America.     Selden  O.  Martin,  Ph.D.,  Graduate  School 

of  Business  Administration,  Harvard  University 197 

XVIII.  The  Probable  Effect  of  the  Opening  of  the  Panama 
CaxVal  on  Our  Economic  Relations  with  the  People 
op  the  West  Coast  of  South  America.  Hiram  Bing- 
ham,   Ph.D.,    Assistant   Professor   of   Latin-American 

Historj',  Yale  University 216 

XIX.  Some  of  the  Obstacles  to  North  American  Trade  in 
Brazil.  John  C.  Branner,  LL.D.,  President  of  Stan- 
ford University 235 

XX.  American  Intervention  in  Central  America.  Philip 
Marshall  Brown,  Assistant-Professor  of  International 
Law  and  Diplomacy,   Princeton  University;  formerly 

American  Minister  to  Honduras 245 

The  Dominican  Convention  and  Its  Lessons.  Jacob 
H.  Hollander,  Ph.D.,  Professor  of  Political  Economy, 
Johns  Hopkins  University,  Formerlj'  Special  Commis- 
sioner Plenipotentiary  to  Santo  Domingo,  and  Finan- 
cial Adviser  of  the  Dominican  Republic 263 

XXII.     In  Justice  to  the  United  States — A  Settlement  with 

Colombia.    Earl  Harding 274 

XXIII.  The  Relations  of  the  United  States  with  the  Latin- 

American  Republics.  Leopold  Grahame,  formerly 
editor  of  "The  Buenos  Aires  Herald"  and  of  "The 
Argentine  Year  Book" 290 

XXIV.  The    Mind    of    the    Latin-American    Nations.     David 

Montt,    General    Correspondent    of    "El    Diario    Ilus- 

trado,"  Santiago,  Chile 299 

XXV.    Higher    Education    in    Latin    America.     Edgar    Ewing 

Brandon,  Ph.D.,  Vice-President  of  Miami  University.  .  307 
XXVI.    The  Universities  and  American  International  Rela- 
tions.    George  W.  Nasmyth,  Ph.D.,  President  of  the 
Eighth  International  Congress  of  Students;  Director 

of  the  International  Bureau  of  Students 321 

XXVII.  Patagonia  and  Tierra  Del  Fuego.  Jos6  Moneta,  Cap- 
tain, Argentine  Navy,  Commanding  Battleship  "Riva- 
davia,"  formerly  member  of  the  Argentine  Boundary 

Commissions  with  (  hile  and  Brazil 328 

XXVIII.  The  Physical  Basis  of  the  Argentine  Nation.  Bailey 
Willis,  Ph.D.,  Consulting  Geologist  to  the  Minister  of 
Public  Works,   Ar^^cntina,    1911-1913;  Member  of  the 

United  States  Geological  Survey 342 

XXIX.  The  Adaptability  of  the  White  Man  ro  Tropical 
America.     Ellsworth    Huntington,     Ph.D.,     Assistant 

Professor  of  Geography,  Yale  Univer&ity 360 

1 


INTRODUCTION 

Increasingly  intimate  relations  between  the  United  States 
and  the  countries  of  Latin  America  will  he  one  of  the  striking 
features  of  the  next  few  decades.  Since  the  days  when  these 
sister  republics  began  their  independent  existence  a  century 
ago,  their  people  and  our  own  have  been  neighbors  to  Europe, 
but  strangers  to  each  other.  Happily  this  period  of  mutual 
isolation  has  now  come  to  an  end. 

The  reasons  for  this  separation  of  a  hundred  years  are  not 
hard  to  find.  The  United  States  was  absorbed  in  its  own 
internal  development  and  gave  little  thought  to  other  coun- 
tries, least  of  all  to  those  with  whom  it  had  no  necessary 
association.  As  an  agricultural  land  it  exported  surplus  raw 
materials — wheat,  corn,  meat  and  cotton — to  England, 
France  and  Germany,  and  received  in  return  the  best  grades 
of  manufactured  goods.  A  rapidly  swelling  stream  of  immi- 
gration maintained  some  connection  with  these  older  nations 
across  the  Atlantic.  The  diplomacy  of  the  United  States 
was  largely  limited  to  problems  concerning  cither  Europe 
or  the  lands  immediately  beyond  our  borders.  The  large 
tourist  class  of  today  did  not  exist  during  most  of  this  period ; 
even  the  relatively  few  who  went  abroad  for  sightseeing  had 
no  desire  to  visit  countries  which  they  regarded  as  primi- 
tive, sparsely  settled  and  racked  by  constant  revolutions. 
In  fact  there  was  nothing  which  tended  to  bring  the  United 
States  and  South  America  into  close  contact. 

Latin  America,  also,  found  no  common  ties  during  the  past 
century  to  bind  it  to  this  country.  Although  it  was  strongly 
influenced  by  North  American  precedents  in  its  revolt 
against  Spain  and  in  the  form  of  its  national  constitutions  the 
connection  between  the  two  sections  went  no  further.  J>ike 
the  United  States  the  rapidly  develoi)ing  repul)lics  of  the 
South  sent  their  raw  materials  to  Europe  and  bought  manu- 
factured goods  in  return.  They  received  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  immigrants  from  the  Latin  countries  of  the  old 
world  and  borrowed  from  European  bankers  the  vast  suras 

vii 


Vlll  INTRODUCTION 

which  built  their  railroads,  harbors,  and  attractive  capitals. 
The  intellectual  life,  the  school  and  university  systems, 
social  customs,  fashions  and  styles  all  came  from  France, 
Spain  or  Portugal. 

The  cords  which  stretched  from  this  country  and  from 
Latin  America  to  the  outside  world  all  led  to  Europe;  there 
were  none  which  bound  the  two  sections  together. 

This  situation  is  rapidly  passing  away,  for  the  underlying 
conditions  which  caused  it  are  changing.  The  United  States 
now  needs  foreign  markets  in  which  to  sell  its  surplus  manu- 
factures and  is  entering  upon  a  systematic  campaign  to  take 
the  commercial  leadership  in  Latin  America.  At  the  same 
time  it  is  ceasing  to  export  and  coming  to  import  agricultural 
produce;  the  past  few  months  shiploads  of  Argentine  beef 
and  corn  have  been  sold  in  the  cities  of  our  Atlantic  states. 
Thus  the  basis  of  a  new  trade  relationship  is  coming  into 
existence — the  exchange  of  North  American  manufactured 
goods  for  the  raw  products  of  the  lands  to  the  South.  A 
similar  change  has  taken  place  in  international  finance;  the 
United  States  has  recently  become  a  creditor  nation,  ready 
to  loan  large  sums  in  foreign  countries;  the  billion  of  dollars 
invested  by  our  citizens  in  Mexico  during  the  past  two  or 
three  decades  is  an  evidence  that  similar  help  may  be  given 
in  the  near  future  to  other  American  repubhcs.  The  diplo- 
matic policy  of  the  United  States,  also,  is  changing  as  notice- 
ably as  its  foreign  trade  and  finance.  The  Monroe  Doctrine, 
which  sums  up  our  traditional  attitude  towards  the  out- 
side world,  has  in  the  past  concerned  itself  chiefly  with 
the  behavior  of  Europe  towards  the  Republics  of  Latin 
America;  we  are  now  attempting,  practically  for  the  first 
time,  to  define  our  own  relations  with  these  republics.  This 
Doctrine  in  its  present  form,  so  far  as  it  relates  to  the  Latin 
American  states,  is  very  generally  regarded  as  unsatisfac- 
tory; and  a  redefinition  is  widely  demanded  which  shall  bring 
about  a  greater  cooperation  with  the  strong,  stable  states  to 
the  south  of  us.  The  most  immediate  single  cause,  however, 
which  is  bringing  Latin  and  Anglo  America  closer  together  is 
the  building  of  the  Panama  Canal.     The  seiziu-e  of  the  Canal 


INTRODUCTION  IX 

Zone  advanced  the  coast  line  of  the  United  States  hundreds 
of  miles  towards  the  center  of  the  Latin  American  world ; 
while  the  Canal  itself  is  giving  to  North  and  South  an  object 
of  common  and  general  interest.  It  is  the  Canal  probably, 
and  thediscussion  regarding  it,  which  have  aroused  the  people 
of  this  country  to  a  dawning  consciousness  that  there  exist 
in  South  America  strong  nations  with  cultured  people,  stable 
governments  and  attractive  cities. 

There  are  many  signs  of  this  awakening  interest.  The 
magazines  are  writing  of  the  resources  and  the  charm  of 
South  America  as  if  it  were  a  newly  discovered  land.  A 
rapidly  increasing  number  of  books  dealing  with  one  or  more 
of  these  Latin  countries  are  issuing  from  the  press;  while 
one  of  them,  in  many  ways  the  best,  that  by  the  recent 
British  Ambassador  to  the  United  States,  James  Bryce,  has 
been  read  by  a  large  proportion  of  the  thoughtful  people  of 
this  country.  The  professional  stereopticon  lecturers  have 
found  that  the  Panama  Canal  and  South  America  are  the 
most  popular  subjects  to  present  to  the  average  well-informed 
audience.  The  teaching  of  Spanish,  the  tongue  of  every 
country  to  the  South  of  us  except  Brazil,  is  being  rapidly 
introduced  in  our  high  schools  and  colleges,  while  a  knowl- 
edge of  this  language  is  being  accepted  by  some  of  our  higher 
institutions  as  an  equivalent  for  French  or  German.  Courses 
also  are  now  being  given  in  the  foremost  universities  upon 
the  history,  the  civilization  and  the  economic  conditions 
of  South  America.  The  diplomatic  policy  of  the  United 
States  towards  Latin  America  is  being  widely  discussed. 
The  problem  whether  the  Monroe  Doctrine  should  be  con- 
tinued unchanged,  or  be  modified,  or  be  abandoned,  has 
been  a  live  issue  in  our  newspapers  and  periodicals;  it  has 
been  debated  in  schools,  colleges  and  universities  in  every 
part  of  the  country;  it  has  frequently  been  the  topic  of  city 
economic  clubs ;  and  has  been  studied  from  nearly  every  aspect 
at  three  recent  conferences  of  experts.  Still  another  evidence 
of  the  increasing  interest  in  Latin  America  is  shown  by  the 
large  number  of  tourists  who  have  visited  the  Panama  Canal 
and  South  America.     So  popular  is  the  trip  through  the  cities 


X  INTRODUCTION 

of  Brazil,  Uruguay,  Argentina,  Chile  and  Peru,  that  the 
travel  agencies  are  making  reduced  rates  and  arranging  spe- 
cial parties  for  this  route.  A  succession  of  Chamber  of 
Commerce  delegations  also  has  passed  south  through  Pan- 
ama the  last  couple  of  years — so  many  of  them  that  they 
have  brought  consternation  to  their  hospitable  hosts  in 
the  thriving  South  American  cities.  Finally  a  number  of 
our  foremost  public  men  have  recently  visited  our  sister 
republics,  among  them  being  Ex-President  Roosevelt  and 
three  Secretaries  of  State,  Root,  Knox,  and  Bryan. 

Latin  America  also  is  coming  into  closer  touch  with  the 
United  States,  as  is  shown  most  strikingly  by  the  fact  that 
436  students  from  its  various  republics  have  spent  the  past 
year  in  our  higher  institutions  of  learning. 

In  matters  of  commerce  and  business  the  United  States  and 
Latin  America  are  even  now  more  closely  bound  together 
than  we  generally  realize.  It  is  hardly  too  much  to  say  that 
the  typical  well-to-do  South  American  business  man,  when 
he  rises  in  the  morning,  puts  on  a  pair  of  North  American 
shoes,  at  the  breakfast  table  reads  his  daily  paper  fresh  from 
a  North  American  printing  press,  in  his  office  sits  at  a  North 
American  desk,  dictates  to  a  stenographer  who  uses  a  North 
American  typewriter,  signs  his  letters  with  a  North  American 
fountain  pen,  files  his  correspondence  in  North  American 
filing-cases,  weighs  his  goods  upon  North  American  scales, 
keeps  his  cash  account  by  North  American  cash  registers, 
and  if  all  this  should  give  him  the  toothache  rushes  to  a  North 
American  dentist. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  coffee  which  makes  our  delectable 
breakfast  cup  comes  from  Santos,  Brazil.  We  have  just 
begun  to  eat  Argentine  beef,  so  much  of  it  that  by  the  end 
of  the  present  year  arrangements  will  have  been  per  ected 
by  which  steamers  will  leave  Buenos  Aires  each  week  for 
New  York  loaded  with  chilled  and  frozen  beef  and  mutton. 
The  tires  of  our  automobiles  came  originally,  for  the  most 
part,  from  the  forests  of  the  Amazon;  while  much  of  the  cop- 
per used  in  the  electric  light  wires  in  our  homes  and  our 
streets  was  dug  from  the  exhaustless  mines  of  the  Peruvian 
and  Chilean  Andes. 


INTRODUCTION  XI 

But  we  of  North  and  South  America  are  nearer  to  one 
another  conunercially  than  we  are  intellectually  or  sympa- 
thetically; we  have  greater  mutual  trade  than  mutual  under- 
standing of  each  other.  The  mass  of  our  people  have  little 
comprehension  of  conditions  in  the  most  advanced  of  the 
Latin  American  countries;  and  are  incredulous  when  told 
that  the  most  beautiful  city  of  the  American  hemisphere  is 
not  in  the  United  States,  but  in  South  America;  that  two 
South  American  cities  have  opera  houses  which  in  elegance 
and  luxury  surpass  any  in  our  own  country;  and  that  the 
most  imposing  public  avenues  of  the  new  world  are  in  Rio  de 
Janeiro  and  Buenos  Aires.  From  a  business  view  it  may  be 
stated  that  the  capital  of  Argentina  has  a  more  extended  and 
magnificent  system  of  stone  docks  than  any  North  American 
port:  it  has  a  larger  number  of  public  taxicabs  than  New 
York  and  Chicago  combined,  and,  no  wonder,  a  higher  cost 
of  living.  As  for  other  matters,  the  leading  South  American 
countries  take  far  better  care  of  their  immigrants  than  do  we, 
while  Argentina  has  a  more  liberal  system  of  pensions  for 
public  school  teachers  than  any  in  force  in  this  country. 
It  might  be  added  that  the  largest  and  most  powerful 
Dreadnaught  in  the  world  flies  neither  the  Stars  and  Stripes, 
nor  the  Union  Jack,  but  the  flag  of  a  South  American 
Repubhc. 

Many  stories  which  illustrate  the  mutual  lack  of  under- 
standing are  grotesque  and  amusing.  Only  a  short  time  ago 
a  New  York  millionaire  remarked  to  a  business  man  from 
Brazil  that  the  Panama  Canal  would  greatly  shorten  the 
distance  between  New  York  and  Rio.  This  is  exactly  the 
same  kind  of  a  mistake,  and  just  as  bad,  as  placing;  San  Fran- 
cisco on  the  Atlantic  Coast.  On  the  other  hand,  not  long 
ago  the  members  of  the  reception  committee  of  a  South 
American  capital,  while  preparing  a  most  elaI)orate  enter- 
tainment for  a  Chamber  of  Commerce  delegation,  were  yet 
tortured  by  the  fear  that  after  all  these  business  men  from 
a  leading  North  American  cit}'  would  not  be  acquainted  with 
the  usages  of  polite  society. 

We  need  to  become  acquainted  with  each  other,  we  of  the 
North  and  of  the  South.     It  is  notable  that  the  Latin  Ameri- 


Xll  INTRODUCTION 

cans  who  have  lived  or  studied  in  this  country,  have,  for  the 
most  part,  a  warm-hearted  admiration  for  our  people  and 
our  institutions;  while  those  who  have  been  permitted  to 
travel  or  reside  in  such  progressive  South  American  republics 
as  .\i-gentina,  Brazil  and  Chile  are  never  tired  of  telling  of 
their  culture,  their  charm  and  their  open-handed  hospitality. 
To  discuss  conditions  in  Latin  America  and  the  mutual 
interests  of  its  countries  and  our  own,  there  met  together  at 
Clark  University  last  November,  for  a  four  days  Conference, 
some  forty  men,  from  both  North  and  South  America,  each 
of  whom  could  speak  with  authority  upon  some  aspect  of 
Latin  American  affairs.  The  carefully  prepared  papers 
which  they  read  during  these  sessions  are  published  in  the 
present  volume.  The  University  presents  this  to  the  ])ublic 
in  the  hope  that  it  may  help  to  create  a  more  sympathetic 
appreciation  of  the  history,  the  civilization  and  the  problems 
of  our  sister  American  Republics,  and  may  aid  in  determin- 
i)ig  the  ideal  diplomatic  relations  which  should  exist  be- 
tween them  and  our  own  land,  a  problem  whose  solution  is 
our  nation's  most  pressing  diplomatic  task. 

G.  H.  Blakeslek. 

Clark  University 
June  10,  1914 


contrasts  in  the  development  of  nation- 
ality in  the  anglo-  and  latin- 
a:merican 

By  Senor  Don  Federico  A.  Pezet,  Envoy  Extraordinary  and 
Minister  Plenipotentiary  from  Peru 

I  have  chosen  as  my  subject,  a  question  that  is  most 
important  at  this  time,  when  there  is  a  growing  tendency 
to  know  better  and  understand  the  peoples  of  the  Latin- 
American  nations;  to  get  closer  to  them  by  establishing 
bonds  of  friendship  through  commercial  relations  based  on 
mutual  respect  and  confidence,  as  is  evidenced  by  this  con- 
ference, and  by  the  recent  utterances  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States  in  his  memorable  declarations  at  Mobile. 

In  order  to  determine  properly  the  relative  positions  and 
conditions  of  the  two  great  groups  of  individuals  that  people 
this  American  world,  north  and  south  of  the  Rio  Grande  and 
Gulf  of  ^lexico,  we  must  first  study  the  contrasts  in  the 
development  of  nationality  in  these  two  groups  that,  for 
expediency,  I  shall  denominate  or  class  as  "  Anglo-American, " 
and  "Latin-American." 

No  man  can  truly  appreciate  another,  if  he  does  not  know 
him.  No  nation  can  feel  friendship  towards  another  if  it 
does  not  know  it.  But  to  know,  should  imply  understand- 
ing, without  which  there  can  be  nothing  in  common,  and 
understanding  is  an  essential  to  draw  individuals  together, 
and  so  it  is  with  nations. 

International  relations  are  necessary,  they  are  cultivated 
for  many  reasons,  but  they  do  not  necessarily  mean  friend- 
ship. Nations,  like  individuals,  live  on  good  terms  with 
their  neighbors  because  it  behooves  them  to  do  so,  but  this 
does  not  imply  that  they  are  friends,  that  there  is  any 
closer  relation  between  them,  other  than  one  of  courteous 
deference  towards  each  other. 


2  i<^EDERICd   A.    PEZET 

Such  neighbors,  whether  they  be  individuals  or  nations, 
do  not  know  each  other,  much  less  do  they  understand 
each  other.  There  is  consequently,  no  true  friendship  be- 
tween them;  no  bond  of  union.  Therefore,  if  such  people 
wish  to  become  friendly  they  must  begin  by  knowing  each 
other,  becoming  acquainted  through  intercourse  and  thus, 
discover  their  respective  traits  and  characteristics,  so  that, 
in  course  of  time,  a  sentiment  of  understanding  is  born, 
which,  being  reciprocal,  eventually  gives  way  to  friendship, 
and  in  like  manner  to  amity  between  nations. 

Therefore,  as  a  first  essential  to  the  study  of  the  subject 
matter  of  these  remarks,  we  must  place  ourselves  in  a  posi- 
tion to  perfectly  understand  the  very  peculiar  conditions  of 
settlement  and  growth  of  Latin  America,  before  we  can 
hope,  to  obtain  any  fair  estimate  of  present  day  Latin 
America. 

These  conditions  were  very  different  to  those  that  have 
been  found  in  Anglo  America.  This  is  a  most  important 
point  and  one  that  should  be  made  clear  to  all  who  in  this 
nation  and  elsewhere  are  trying  to  know  and  understand 
Latin  America  and  its  people. 

When  this  point  becomes  apparent  to  all,  then  I  shall 
expect  to  see  another  attitude  towards  our  people.  I  con- 
tend, that  the  average  Anglo-American  does  not  appreciate 
us  because  he  invariably  wants  to  measure  us  by  his  own 
standards,  regardless  of  the  fact  that  those  standards  do 
not  happen  to  fit  our  special  type  of  humanity. 

Physically,  we  are  more  or  less  similar,  but  in  a  moral 
sense,  each  has  special  traits  of  character  that  mark  the 
peculiar  idiosyncrasies  in  each.  Therefore,  if  we  reverse 
the  process  and  we  Latin-Americans  measure  you  Anglo- 
Americans  by  our  standards,  we  likewise  would  find  you 
as  below  par,  according  to  our  estimate,  which  proves  my 
premises,  that,  firstly,  secondly  and  lastly,  we  have  to  thor- 
oughly understand  each  other,  if  there  is  to  be  any  reciprocal 
appreciation,  and  it  behooves  us  to  be  forebearing,  generous 
and  accepting  the  other's  idiosyncrasies  as  absolutely  exact 
traits  of  character,  born  with  the  individual  or  developed  in 


THE    DEVELOPMENT   OF   NATIONALITY  3 

him  through  envu'onment.  In  order  to  make  this  point 
clear  I  must  ask  you  to  consider  two  things:  firstly,  the 
relative  conditions  at  the  time  of  the  discovery  of  America 
by  Christopher  Columbus:  both  of  the  territories  that  con- 
stitute what  is  known  today  as  the  United  States  of  North 
America,  and  of  those  that  constitute  what  is  considered  as 
Latin  America;  secondly,  the  class  and  type  of  white  men 
who  became  the  first  settlers  in  either  section  of  America, 
(for  expediency  and  clearness,  I  shall  refer  to  each  section, 
as  yours  and  ours).  Well,  then,  your  territory,  at  the  time 
of  the  advent  of  the  white  man  from  Europe,  was  more  or 
less  of  a  virgin  territory,  inhabited  by  savage  and  semi- 
savage  nomadic  tribes,  thinly  scattered  all  over  a  very  vast 
area.  While  our  territory  was  to  a  very  great  extent  or- 
ganized into  states  in  a  measure  barbaric  but  nevertheless 
semi-civilized,  densely  populated,  and  concentrated  in  a 
manner  to  make  for  cohesion.  Mayas,  Aztecs  and  Toltecs, 
Caras,  Chimus,  Incas,  Aymaras,  and  Quichuas,  and  other 
tribes,  less  known,  over-ran  our  territory  and  presented 
marked  contrast  with  conditions  in  yours. 

According  as  the  news  of  the  discovery  of  the  New  World 
invaded  the  European  countries,  two  tj'^pes,  that  were  to 
mold  the  destinies  of  the  wonderlands  beyond  the  seas, 
were  brought  into  play;  the  one  formed  of  the  oppressed 
and  persecuted  by  religious  intolerance,  the  other  of  the 
adventurous,  soldiers  of  fortune,  in  quest  of  gold  and 
adventures. 

Both  of  these  started  out  with  set  purposes,  the  oppressed 
and  persecuted  came  to  the  New  World  to  build  up  new 
homes,  free  from  all  the  troubles  left  behind.  While  the 
adventurous  came,  bent  on  destroying  and  carrying  away 
everything  they  could  lay  their  hands  on.  So  here  we  have 
the  true  genesis  of  the  formation  of  nationality  in  Anglo- 
and  Latin-America.  In  the  two  great  classes,  the  perma- 
nent and  the  temporary,  the  one  to  build  up,  the  other  to 
tear  down  and  destroy.  The  one  came  with  reverence,  the 
other  with  defiance.  Both  with  an  equally  set  purpose,  but 
the  one  with  humility  in  his  heart,   the  other  proud  and 


4  FEDERICO   A.    PEZET 

overbearing;  the  one  full  of  tenderness  born  of  his  religious 
zeal,  the  other  cruel  and  despotic. 

Thus  we  find  that  whereas  Anglo  America  was  settled  by- 
austere  men,  seeking  religious  freedom,  men  who  were  flee- 
ing from  states  with  laws  prejudicial  to  their  beliefs  and 
practices,  men  dissatisfied  with  the  pohtical  conditions  in 
their  own  countries,  who  did  not  wish  to  go  so  far  as  to 
sever  their  connection  entirely  with  the  fatherland,  but  who 
sought  in  the  new  colonies  ameliorated  conditions  under 
their  own  flag;  men  who  came  to  build  homes  in  a  new 
land,  eager  to  remain  because  full  of  energy,  they  saw  in 
the  very  newness  of  the  land  the  great  opportunities  it 
offered  them  to  build  a  greater  commercial  and  political 
future  for  themselves.  Besides  these  good  elements,  there 
came,  as  a  matter  of  course,  a  few  adventurous  outlaws, 
and  others  attracted  to  the  new  land  by  the  prevalent 
"Wanderlust"  of  the  times.     The  latter,  a  decided  minority. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  Latin  America.  To  her  went  the 
soldiers  of  fortune,  valiant  but  ignorant,  adventurous  and 
daring  yet  unscrupulous,  they  came  principally  from  a 
country  where  religious  bigotry  was  rampant.  They  were 
an  admixture  of  virtues  and  ^dces.  Thej"  came  to  conquer, 
to  fight  if  necessary;  their  one  aim  was  to  better  themselves 
financially  regardless  of  by  what  means  and  as  to  conse- 
quences. The  companions  of  Pizarro,  Hernando  Cortez,  de 
Soto,  Almagro,  Pedrarias,  Vasco  Nunez  de  Balboa,  were  in 
marked  contrast  to  the  men  who  came  to  the  shores  of  New 
England  with  the  Pilgrim  Fathers. 

To  us  came  the  militarists  seeking  a  field  for  new  exploits, 
in  their  wake  came  adventurous  outlaws  seeking  gold  and 
riches.  Of  course,  there  also  came  some  good  men,  some 
who  would  have  been  willing  to  preserve  what  they  found, 
but  these  were  a  minority,  and  besides,  the  existing  condi- 
tions throughout  our  territories  prevented  this.  Because 
while  in  your  territory  there  were  nothing  but  nomadic, 
savage  and  semi-savage  tribes,  without  fixed  settlements, 
in  our  territory  the  Spaniards  came  upon  organized  states, 
having  a  certain  civilization  of  their  own. 


THE    DEVELOPMENT   OF   NATIONALITY  5 

So  we  have,  that,  whereas  in  Anglo  America  the  whites 
arrived  and  settled  peacefully,  acquiring  the  ownership  of 
the  land  from  the  native  Indians,  either  by  right  of  pur- 
chase, by  peaceful  treaty  negotiations,  and  in  some  instances 
by  forceful  occupation,  after  actual  warfare  with  the  abo- 
rigines, which  ended  with  the  conquest  of  the  land  but  not 
of  its  inhabitants,  who  in  each  case,  were  driven  westward. 
In  Latin  America,  the  whites  came  as  a  military  organized 
force,  overran  the  countries  that  they  discovered,  fighting 
their  way  from  the  very  outset,  right  into  the  heart  of  the 
unknown  territories  that  they  seized  upon,  destroying  every- 
thing, plundering  wholesale  and  making  a  display  of  force 
and  rare  indomitable  courage  so  as  to  cower  the  astonished 
natives.  In  Latin  America,  the  white  man  overthrew  the 
native  governments  and  established  themselves  as  the  gov- 
erning class  reducing  the  Indian  to  a  state  bordering  on 
actual  slavery,  that,  in  many  instances,  was  slavery.  Every 
cruelty  was  resorted  to  by  the  conquerors.  No  pity  nor 
mercy  was  ever  shown  unto  the  defenseless  tribes.  From 
the  very  first,  it  was  a  question  of  asserting  his  superiority 
as  a  master,  and  making  the  Indian  feel  that  he  was  but  a 
mere  tool  in  his  master's  hands. 

From  the  foregoing,  it  can  readily  be  seen  that  while  your 
territory  was  being  colonized,  in  the  strictest  sense  of  the 
word,  by  your  forefathers,  ours  was  being  conquered  by 
the  white  man  in  such  a  manner  as  to  be  most  detrimental 
to  post<^rity. 

Now,  let  us  glance  at  the  types  of  men  who  came  to  your 
and  to  our  sections  of  the  Continent.  The  colonists  of 
Anglo  America  came  from  those  countries  of  northwestern 
Europe,  where  there  was  the  greatest  freedom,  the  nearest 
approach  to  republican  institutions  and  government  of  the 
people,  and  by  the  people,  existent  at  the  time.  England, 
Scotland  and  Wales,  The  Netherlands,  French  Huguenots, 
Scandinavians,  and  Germans,  were  the  stock  from  which 
were  evolved  the  American  colonies. 

The  conquerors  of  Latin  America  were  militarists  from 
the  most  absolute  monarchy  in  western  Europe,  and  with 
these  soldiers  came  the  adventurers.     And  after  the  first 


6  FEDERICO  A.    PEZET 

news  of  their  wonderful  exploits  reached  the  mother  coun- 
try, and  the  first  fruits  of  the  conquest  were  shown  in  Spain, 
Their  Most  Catholic  Majesties,  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  felt 
it  their  duty  to  send  to  the  new  kingdoms  beyond  the  seas, 
learned  and  holy  monks  and  friars.     With  these,  came  many 
scions  of  noble  families,  men  of  means  and  of  great  power 
at  home,  who  brought  a  very  large  clerical  force,  composed 
mainly  of  younger  sons  of  the  upper  classes.     Each  one 
eager  to  obtain  a  sinecure,  trusting  to  his  relations  and  power- 
ful sponsors  to  better  his  condition,  and  in  time,  get  his 
promotion  to  more  important  and  more  lucrative  positions. 
It  was  a  veritable  army  of  bureaucrats,  of  office-seekers 
of  penniless  and  spendthrift  young  men  that  over-ran  our 
territory,  men  who  had  never  done  any  work  at  home, 
men,  who  by  reason  of  birth,  or  by  reason  of  the  conditions 
existing  in  the  mother  country  at  the  time,  had  never  had 
to  do  any  work,  men  whose  one  and  only  ambition  was  a 
high  salary,  because  they  had  never  had  any  occasion  to 
learn  a  profession  nor  to  earn  a  livelihood  through  industry 
and  toil. 

From  sources  so  widely  different  in  their  components 
sprang  the  Anglo-American  and  the  Latin-American.  Your 
men  formed  an  unmixed  mass,  because,  although  being  of 
diverse  nationalities  and  coming  from  diverse  social  classes, 
they  were  of  pure  race  and  maintained  this  condition  with 
very  rare  exception.  Besides,  as  they  came  with  intent  of 
bettering  themselves,  by  becoming  independent  in  a  meas- 
ure, if  not  of  the  governments,  at  least  of  the  laws  that 
had  oppressed  them  at  home.  They  came  determined  to 
settle  down  and  so  they  brought  their  families  with  them 
and  a  great  many  of  their  belongings,  and  thus,  from  the 
very  beginning,  they  established  homes  and  organized  prop- 
erly constituted  communities  of  workers. 

Our  men  did  not  bring  their  women  and  families  until 
many  years  after  the  Conquest,  and,  in  consequence,  the 
Spaniards  from  the  very  commencement  took  to  themselves 
Indian  women  and  the  offspring  became  the  "Mestizos," 
a  mixed  race  that  the  haughty  pure  Castilians  in  Spain 
never  countenanced,  although  they  were  of  their  own  flesh 


THE   DEVELOPMEXT   OF   NATIONALITY  7 

and  blood.  Later  on,  when  conditions  became  more  settled, 
the  Spaniards  brought  their  families,  and  after  a  time  the 
"Creoles,"  came  into  existence,  these  were  the  offspring  of 
European  parents  born  in  the  New  World.  It  is  a  well-known 
fact  that  many  of  the  (\)nquistadores  took  unto  themselves 
women  of  the  Indian  race,  of  the  governing  class,  especially 
did  this  occur  in  Mexico  and  in  Peru  (which  included  at  the 
time,  what  is  today  Ecuador  and  Bolivia),  there  being  in 
Mexico  and  Peru  a  semi-civilized  native  race  organized  into 
castes.  One  of  the  best  known  of  the  early  chroniclers  of 
Peru,  and  who  has  been  considered  as  an  authority  on  the 
history  of  the  Inca  Empire  was  Inca  Garcilaso,  the  son  of  a 
Spanish  nobleman,  Garcilaso  de  la  Vega,  who  came  to  Peru 
in  1535,  and  who  married  dona  Isabel  Palla  Huailas  Nusta, 
daughter  of  Palla  Mama  Ocllo  and  of  Huallpa  Tupac  Inca 
Yupanqui,  fourth  son  of  the  Inca  Tupac  Yupanqui,  brother 
of  Huaina  Capac,  one  of  the  reigning  Incas. 

This  mixing  of  the  races — white  and  Indian — after  a  time, 
was  not  frowned  upon  by  the  haughty  Spanish  monarchy, 
but  on  the  contrary,  it  was  encouraged,  it  being  considered 
the  best  possible  means  of  establishing  a  uniform  race.  The 
idea  being  to  create  a  great  middle  class,  that  would  in 
time  make  useful  and  loyal  subjects  of  the  Crown. 

Many  of  the  Conquistadores  thus  married  or  entangled 
themselves  with  princesses  of  the  existing  dynasties,  and 
with' the  daughters  and  relatives  of  the  curacas  or  chieftains. 
And  following  this  example,  the  soldiery-  and  the  retinues 
of  these  leaders,  were  allowed  a  very  large  amount  of  liberty, 
so  promiscuous,  that  by  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
the  mestizo  population  of  Peru  had  exceeded  a  quarter  of 
a  million. 

Some  of  these  mestizos,  by  the  right  of  their  i)arentage, 
were  given  the  best  education  and,  in  many  instances,  they 
were  brought  up  with  the  crcole  children;  but,  by  far  the 
vast  majority  were  kept  in  ignorance,  and  made  to  do  me- 
nial work  or,  at  most,  allowed  to  apprentice  themselves  to 
some  trade.  * 

The  Anglo-American  colonist,  when  he  established  him- 
self on  the  shores  of  America,  was  already  somewhat  schooled 


8  FEDERICO   A.    PEZET 

in  self-government.  He  was  a  man  of  discipline,  of  order  and 
above  all  else,  he  was  a  worker.  He  emigrated  because 
he  sought  to  improve  his  condition,  because  he  saw  in  the 
new  land  beyond  the  seas  a  new  life,  and  at  the  very  first 
opportunity  he  proved  himself  able  to  take  care  of  himself. 
With  such  men,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  that  the  new 
colonics  should  have  been  more  or  less  successful  from  the 
start,  and  that  the  science  of  self-government  should  have 
been  so  readily  acquired. 

Your  forefathers  came  over,  bringing  in  their  hearts  the 
desire  to  accomplish  great  things.  As  they  found  every- 
thing in  an  undeveloped  state,  they  were  obliged  to  take  the 
initiative  and  try  to  help  themselves.  From  the  first,  it 
was  a  great  cooperative  effort,  everyone  working  for  him- 
self, but  at  the  same  time,  lending  a  helping  hand  to  his 
neighbor. 

With  us  it  was  otherwise.  The  sight  of  such  great  wealth 
as  the  Conquistadores  found  in  some  of  our  countries,  the 
existence  of  organized  states,  where  the  ceremonies  were 
carried  on  with  pomp  and  splendor,  dazzled  the  more  or 
less  ignorant  adventurers  who  were  the  first  comers  and 
completely  demoralized  them. 

I  firmly  believe,  that  had  those  brave  men,  for  brave  they 
certainly  were,  found  in  our  countries  the  conditions  that 
the  Anglo-Saxon  found  in  this,  they  would  surely  have  de- 
veloped qualities  that  might  have  been  on  a  par  with  some 
of  the  ones  exhibited  by  your  pioneers.  There  is  no  telling 
what  would  have  resulted  from  altered  conditions  in  our 
respective  territories. 

The  news  of  the  riches  to  be  found  in  the  New  World 
attracted  to  it  men  from  all  over  Europe.  To  our  countries 
came  a  very  large  number  of  the  riff-raff-soldiers,  who  had 
been  warring  all  over  Europe,  men,  courageous,  but  unscru- 
pulous. From  the  beginning,  these  men  quarreled  among 
themselves,  over  the  spoils;  their  leaders  distrusted  each 
other,  they  organized  themselves  into  separate  camps  and 
from  the  moment  the  Conquest  was  consummated,  an  actual 
state  of  anarchy  prevailed  throughout  the  new  dominions 
of  the  Spanish  monarch.    A  seed  that  unquestionably  bore 


THE   DEVELOPMENT   OF   NATIONALITY  9 

fruit  to  judge  from  the  history  of  our  countries  with  their 
perennial  upheavals  and  continued  discontent  and  uiu*est. 

During  the  first  fifty  years  after  the  Conciuest  by  the 
Spaniards,  many  attempts  were  made  by  the  Crown  to  es- 
tabhsh  good  government  in  the  newly-acquired  possessions, 
but  it  was  to  no  avail.  The  fact  is  that  the  men  who  came 
to  us  were  untutored  in  the  science  of  government.  They 
knew  how  to  rule,  but  they  did  not  know  how  to  govern. 
So  for  two  centuries  and  more,  the  European  and  the  Creole 
exploited  and  ruled  the  land,  and  the  mestizos  and  the 
Indians  for  the  benefit  of  the  mother  country. 

The  Indian  was  kept  in  a  state  of  abject  servitude,  he 
was  turned  into  a  beast  of  burden.  The  mestizo,  physio- 
logically, is  nearer  to  the  Caucasian  than  to  the  Indian. 
Physically  and  morally  he  is  superior  to  the  Indian,  and 
although  of  less  active  intelligence  than  the  European  or 
the  Creole,  he  is  more  strong-willed  and  more  persevering 
and  painstaking  in  all  of  his  undertakings. 

In  the  early  days  after  the  Conquest,  the  mestizo  who 
happened  to  have  one  parent  of  lineage  or  rank,  was  given 
every  facility  to  improve  and  was  placed  on  an  equal  foot- 
ing with  the  Creoles,  but  as  the  years  advanced,  and  the 
mestizos  became  more  and  more  numerous,  the  Spaniards 
began  to  look  on  them  with  distrust  and  fearing  that  too 
much  education  would  give  them  certain  power  in  the  ad- 
ministration, they  forbade  them  to  occupy  certain  positions 
and  prevented  them  from  acquiring  too  much  knowledge. 
But  many  of  them,  notwithstanding  these  drawbacks,  opened 
a  way  for  themselves,  tlirough  well  regulated  homes  and 
families,  and  placed  themselves  on  a  level  with  their  ac- 
knowledged masters. 

During  these  years,  the  Indians  were  continually  oppressed 
by  the  European,  the  Creole  and  even  by  the  mestizo.  But, 
at  times,  some  of  the  latter  would  join  in  the  rebellions 
against  their  cruel  masters,  only  to  be  crushed  the  more, 
and  made  to  feel  the  distance  that  separated  each  race. 
And  so  it  was,  for  more  than  two  hundred  years,  these  two 
people,  the  conquerors  and  the  conquered  subsisted  side  by 
side,  living  in  hatred  and  distrust  of  each  other,  until  even- 


10  FEDERICO  A.    PEZET 

tually  out  of  sheer  exhaustion  they  became  apparently  recon- 
ciled to  their  respective  conditions,  when  gradually  a  sort 
of  colonial  nationality  was  evolved. 

This  nationality  formed  of  Creoles  and  mestizos  might  have 
been  beneficial  to  our  countries,  if  it  had  had  time  to  de- 
velop. But  unfortunately,  just  about  the  time  when  the 
Spanish-American  was  beginning  to  find  himself  and  to  make 
himself  understood,  a  wave  of  freedom  swept  over  the  north- 
ern portion  of  the  American  continent,  and  Spain,  fearing 
that  the  example  would  be  followed  in  her  dominions,  tight- 
ened her  hold  on  her  unfortunate  subjects. 

The  splendid  results  of  the  independence  of  Anglo  Amer- 
ica; the  advent  of  new  ideas  through  the  French  Revolution; 
the  invasion  of  Spain  by  Napoleon,  all  tended  to  engender 
in  the  Latin-American  countries  the  desire  of  independence. 

No  longer  was  it  the  rebellion  of  the  Indians.  These  un- 
fortunates had  been  thoroughly  crushed  into  submission. 
It  was  the  Creoles  and  the  mestizos,  who  conspired  against 
the  authority  of  the  mother  country.  The  people  demanded 
freedom.  They  sought  to  have  liberties,  to  be  allowed  to 
have  a  direct  voice  in  the  government  and  the  adim'nistra- 
tion  of  the  affairs  of  theii*  countries. 

Spain,  notwithstanding  her  gradual  loss  of  power  in  Eu- 
rope, stubbornly  refused  to  listen  to  the  cry  of  her  subjects. 
The  men,  who  in  her  own  parliament  voiced  an  opinion  in 
favor  of  the  Americans  were  denounced  as  traitors  to  their 
country  and  as  friends  of  the  French  invader. 

From  1804,  the  unrest  in  Latin  America  was  most  evi- 
dent, it  broke  out  into  revolution,  first  in  one  section,  then 
in  another  until  in  1810,  several  of  the  countries  established 
their  independence,  organizing  a  republican  form  of  govern- 
ment. But  there  was  no  preparation  for  self-government, 
such  as  the  Anglo-American  commonwealths  had  had.  They 
decided  on  this  form  of  government,  because  a  wave  of 
republicanism  had  swept  over  them.  The  ideas  and  prin- 
ciples that  they  adopted  were  taken  from  you,  from  the 
French,  a  little  from  each,  and  they  simply  adopted  them 
without  studying  their  own  condition,  without  having  any 


THE   DEVELOPMENT   OF   NATIONALITY  11 

real  instinct  for  self-government,  without  having  any  fitness 
or  being  ready  for  such  a  state. 

The  Anglo-American  passed  from  the  condition  of  a  good 
colonial  subject  to  that  of  a  citizen  of  an  independent  com- 
monwealth. It  was  a  gradual  development.  He  took  with 
him  from  one  state  into  the  other  the  experience  of  years, 
and  a  thorough  study  of  the  needs  of  his  country  and  of  its 
people. 

On  the  contrary,  our  people  were  totally  unprepared  for 
self-government.  The  number  of  our  people  who  had  risen 
to  positions  of  distinction  while  not  unappreciable,  was 
scattered  over  a  very  large  area  from  Mexico  to  the  confines 
of  South  .America. 

In  each  of  our  countries  there  were  racial  divisions.  Their 
populations  were  made  up  of  Creoles,  who  together  with  the 
born  Spaniard  formed  the  governing  class,  the  mestizos, 
striving  to  be  on  an  equal  footing  with  these,  and  a  long 
way  down  in  the  scale,  the  Indians,  considered  inferior, 
even  to  the  imported  African  slave. 

The  three  centuries  of  Spanish  domination  had  been,  with 
but  few  intervals,  years  of  exploitation,  of  misrule,  of  neg- 
lect. I  do  not  blame  Spain,  absolutely.  I  think  that  this 
condition  was  the  natural  outcome  of  the  manner  in  which 
the  Conquest  was  effected.  Many  unfortunate  circum- 
stances militated  to  bring  about  in  Latin  America  condi- 
tions that  did  not  occur  in  Anglo  America.  Summing  these 
up  as  shown  in  the  foregoing  I  can  but  say  that  you  were 
more  fortunate  than  we  in  the  beginning,  at  the  very  foun- 
dation, and  that,  consequently,  when  each  of  us  set  out  in 
hfe  for  himself,  all  the  advantages  were  with  you. 

Geographically  and  climatically  you  have  been  in  better 
condition  to  prosper  than  we,  and,  to  develop  your  natu- 
ral resources.  Situated,  the  original  thirteen  states,  on  the 
east  coast  of  the  northern  hemisjihcre  of  the  continent, 
nearer  to  Europe,  they  were  in  a  position  to  receive  an  ever 
increasing  influx  of  the  most  desirable  immigrants  from 
western  Europe.  In  this  way,  you  could  offer  them  climatic 
conditions  more  or  less  similar  to  theirs;  institutions  in  ad- 


12  FEDERICO   A.    PEZET 

vance  of  theirs,  but  with  which  they  were  famihar,  if  only 
in  principle;  a  language  that  was  the  surest  vehicle  for  the 
development  of  trade  relations;  religious  and  political  free- 
dom, and  a  virgin  country  rich  in  natural  resources,  a  land 
of  opportunities,  holding  out  every  possible  kind  of  incen- 
tive to  those  who  came  to  its  shores,  and  inviting  them  to 
remain  to  better  their  condition  and  satisfy  their  ambitions. 

Latin  America,  situated  in  great  part  in  the  southern 
hemisphere,  with  many  of  its  centers  of  population  within 
the  tropics,  on  the  Pacific  slope,  or  on  the  high  table  lands 
of  the  Andes  Mountains,  has  been  more  or  less  inaccessible 
to  European  immigration. 

So  while  you  have  had  a  constant  flow  of  immigrants  to 
your  shores,  immigrants  who  have  helped  to  develop  your 
country  and  its  resources,  we  have  been  dragging  out  our 
existence,  trying  to  free  ourselves  from  the  effects  of  inher- 
ent conditions  that  were  drawbacks  to  our  development. 
WTiereas  republican  institutions  and  a  knowledge  of  true 
self-government  were  the  direct  inheritance  of  the  .Ajiglo- 
American  colonies  at  their  birth,  as  a  nation;  Latin  America, 
at  the  time  of  its  inception  into  the  family  of  nations,  was 
a  group  of  disassociated  military  nations,  utterly  unschooled 
in  self-government,  and  inhabited  in  greater  part  by  un- 
fused  races. 

With  these  conditions,  at  the  time  of  our  political  eman- 
cipation; it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  our  first  steps  in 
the  path  of  freedom  and  our  first  attempts  at  self-govern- 
ment should  have  been  disastrous  in  every  respect.  Our 
educated  men,  and  we  had  thi-oughout  Latin  America,  many 
men  of  mark  and  distinction — were  mostly  scholars,  theor- 
ists and  thinkers,  but  unpracticed  in  the  science  of  govern- 
ment, and  moreover  they  were  idealists  and  unpractical. 

Fine  orators,  with  great  versatility,  our  parliaments,  con- 
gresses and  assemblies  vied  with  each  other  in  scholarly  and 
cultured  debate. 

All  of  the  great  principles  that  had  taken  centuries  to 
ripen,  in  the  nations  of  the  Old  World,  were  adopted  by 
us,  at  a  stroke  of  the  pen,  and  by  acclamation.  Without 
having  inborn  in  us  any  of  the  principles  of  true  democracy, 


THE   DEVELOPMENT   OF   NATIONALITY  13 

we  became  over  night,  as  it  were,  democratic  and  represen- 
tative republics.  From  despotism  and  servitude  we  jumped 
into  the  most  advanced  form  of  government. 

Of  course,  there  were  many  men  who  would  have  been 
great  men  in  this  or  in  any  other  country.  There  were  men 
who  under  other  contlitions  and  with  different  environments 
would  have  risen  to  great  heights,  but  I  am  dealing  witli 
facts,  and  not  with  suppositions,  consequently,  the  lack  of 
proper  training,  owing  to  the  conditions  under  which  our 
countries  had  lived  since  the  Conquest,  and  the  class  of 
men  who  had  been  responsible  for  the  government  and  ad- 
ministration of  them,  as  also  the  nature  of  their  inhabi- 
tants, were  all  conducive  to  the  state  that  followed  immedi- 
ately the  political  emancipation  of  Latin  America. 

Your  thirteen  original  States  had  already  a  growing  trade 
with  Europe,  and  even  with  the  Orient,  at  the  time  of  your 
independence. 

Latin  America,  for  three  centuries,  had  been  supplying  to 
ever  needy  Spain  the  precious  metals  obtained  from  its 
mines,  by  the  enforced  hard  labor  of  the  poor  natives.  The 
mother  country  did  not  permit  her  American  possessions 
to  trade  with  other  countries.  The  products  of  our  soil 
were  sent  to  Spain,  or  were  consumed  at  home,  or  exported 
to  the  other  dominions  of  our  master.  The  trade  was  in 
the  hands  of  Spaniards,  and  Spanish  ships  carried  it. 

England  always  far  seeing,  always  alert  to  improving  her 
commercial  supremacy,  saw  a  great  future  for  her  commerce 
and  trade  in  Spanish  America,  and  while  she  was  the  ally 
of  Spain,  assisting  her  to  overthrow  the  Napoleonic  inva- 
sion of  the  Peninsula,  she  was,  at  the  same  time,  urging  upon 
Spain  to  grant  to  her  restless  and  discontented  possessions 
certain  freedom  and  autonomy.  England  knew  that  Spain 
had  no  longer  the  financial  power  to  develop  those  countries; 
she  foresaw  the  day  when  they  would  become  independent 
and  she  decided  to  get  for  herself  a  trade  that  would  be  of 
very  great  consequence  at  some  future  date. 

During  the  time  that  our  countries  were  fighting  the 
mother  country,  we  received  great  moral  and  material  as- 
sistance from  Great  Britain.     It  is  often  said  that  nations 


14  FEDERICO   A.    PEZET 

are  wont  to  be  ungrateful,  and  that  they  seldom  remember 
the  services  rendered  by  other  nations  or  by  foreigners  who 
embrace  their  cause.  I  trust  that  this  will  never  be  said 
of  Spanish  America,  because  we  do  remember  the  assistance 
that  Great  Britain  gave  us,  in  quite  the  same  manner  as 
you  remember  what  France  did  for  you  during  your  own 
great  war,  and  moreover,  we  have  not  forgotten  that  in  the 
days  of  our  struggle,  we  had  the  sympathy  and  the  aid  of 
many  noble  soldiers  and  sailors  from  the  cradle  of  American 
Uberty — your  own  country. 

So  you  see,  that  while  you,  in  Anglo  America,  had  every- 
thing conducive  to  national  welfare,  we  were  laboring  under 
the  stress  of  great  difficulties. 

We  had  no  money.  We  had  no  foreign  trade,  to  speak 
of.  We  had  no  internal  developments.  Slavery  had  been 
introduced  into  many  of  our  countries  and  the  same  laxity 
that  had  allowed  a  promiscuous  intercourse  between  Creole, 
white  man  and  Indian,  permitted  the  mixing  of  the  African 
with  the  other  races. 

Certainly  no  worse  conditions  for  the  formation  of  a  na- 
tionality could  exist.  From  the  very  outset,  we  followed  in 
the  footsteps  of  our  late  masters,  in  fact,  many  of  these 
became  our  first  and  foremost  citizens.  They  applied  the 
democratic  republican  theories  and  practices  to  a  people 
who  were  unprepared  for  them,  and,  as  was  natural,  the 
result  was  ficense,  misrule,  and  finally  chaos. 

As  things  went  wrong  under  one  man,  another  was  tried, 
and  as  he  could  not  improve  the  condition,  the  reason  for 
which  did  not  depend  on  the  man,  but  was  the  natural 
sequence  to  all  that  had  gone  before,  the  consequence  was 
continual  unrest,  dissatisfaction  and  perpetual  changes  of 
political  leaders,  with  the  result,  that  the  nations  becam.e 
impoverished,  the  inhabitants  instead  of  improving,  degen- 
erated, and  became,  in  many  instances,  next  to  worthless  as 
a  national  asset. 

The  general  state  of  national  bankruptcy,  that  was  prev- 
alent in  Latin  America,  a  few  years  after  the  final  over- 
throw of  Spanish  rule  in  1821,  served  as  an  incentive  to 
European  money  lenders  and  financiers  of  a  more  or  less 


THE   DEVELOPMENT   OF   NATIONALITY  15 

obscure  class,  who  came  forward  to  offer  their  services  for 
all  and  every  conceivable  object,  from  a  mere  money  loan 
to  the  building  of  public  works  and  the  development  of  the 
mineral  and  agricultural  resources  of  the  land.  Many  men 
of  shady  reputations,  with  pasts  that  would  not  bear  a  very 
close  scrutiny  and  investigation,  flocked  to  the  newly  con- 
stituted states,  offering  their  services,  and  ready  to  take  up 
anything  in  the  shape  of  a  concession,  which  they  immedi- 
ately took  to  Europe  to  finance  there.  In  this  manner  Latin 
America  was  duped  and  swindled.  Loans  were  raised,  the 
proceeds  of  which  were  used  up  in  paying  commissions  and 
expenses,  but  the  unfortunate  state  had  to  meet  the  obliga- 
tion or  default.  It  is  a  very  long  story,  this  history  of  the 
financial  struggles  of  many  of  the  young  Latin-American 
republics,  and  it  is  a  very  pitiful  story. 

In  like  manner  and  as  we  had  started  out  with  the  wrong 
foot  at  the  time  of  the  Conquest,  the  same  misfortune  befell 
us  when  we  launched  out  into  mdependent  statehood.  In 
other  words,  we  ran  before  we  walked,  we  talked  before  we 
learned  our  A,  B,  C;  we  assumed  a  developed  state  with 
out  first  having  had  the  preliminaries.  How  different  this 
was  in  your  case!  Yet  how  very  few  people  are  there,  who 
think  of  this  when  discussing  and  criticising  us.  How  many 
are  there  among  you,  who  think  of  this  and  stop  to  con- 
sider to  what  extent  the  Latin-American  countries  and  their 
people  have  been  handicapped. 

We  have  been  misjudged.  We  have  been  misrepresented 
at  all  times.  And  all  because  our  critics  have  failed  to  look 
into  our  early  histories  and  ascertain  the  why  and  wherefore 
of  the  present  state  of  affairs.  They  have  sought  in  our 
countries  for  practically  the  same  conditions  as  exist  in 
other  more  fortunate  lands,  where  the  evolution  of  nation- 
ality was  gradual  and  logical,  because  there  had  been  a 
foundation  for  it. 

It  is  impossible  to  build  where  the  foundation  is  not  solid. 
Where  the  ground  has  not  first  been  well  broken  and  j^re- 
pared.  As  I  stand  here  before  you  and  think  that  I  come 
from  the  country  that  is  proud  to  possess  the  oldest  trace 
of  prehistoric  civihzation  on  the  continent,  the  nation  that 


16  FEDERICO   A.    PEZET 

boasts  the  most  ancient  seat  of  learning  in  the  Americas, 
it  grieves  me  to  consider  that,  notwithstanding  the  age  of 
my  country  and  the  venerableness  of  that  seat  of  learning, 
the  University  of  San  Marcos,  we  still  are,  as  a  nation,  in 
our  infancy.  And  it  is  so,  because  only  now  are  we  devel- 
oping our  true  nationalitj^  And  we  know  now  that  the 
formative  period  may  be  considered  as  well  as  over  and  we 
feel  ready  to  face  the  future  with  full  confidence  in  ourselves, 
and  in  our  country. 
^  Some  of  the  countries  of  Latin  America  have  already  made 
wonderful  strides  along  the  path  of  progress,  material  and 
intellectual.  Some  have  already  crossed  their  Rubicon  and 
are  forging  ahead  at  a  rapid  pace.  Argentina,  in  which 
conditions  are  more  analogous  to  those  of  the  United  States, 
has  already  attained  a  greater  material  growth  than  any 
other  Latin-American  nation.  The  tide  of  immigration  from 
the  European  countries  has  been  for  some  years  steadily 
flowing  towards  the  southern  part  of  our  Continent.  Brazil 
and  more  specially  Argentina  have  been  receiving  in  in- 
creased numbers  European  settlers.  In  Argentina,  the  blend- 
ing of  the  races  is  taking  place,  and  a  condition  similar  to 
that  which  occui'red  in  the  United  States  is  developing  there. 
Southern  Brazil  and  Uruguay,  on  the  Atlantic,  and  Chile, 
on  the  Pacific,  are  developing  strong  nationalities.  In  the 
latter  country  climatic  conditions  and  a  more  or  less  homo- 
geneity of  race  have  been  favorable. 

The  Panama  Canal  will  open  the  west  coast  of  Latin 
America  to  European  immigration.  It  will  help  to  open  to 
trade  the  countries  on  the  Pacific  slope.  Through  the  new 
water-way,  Peru  will  be  in  a  direct  line  of  communication 
with  Europe  and  the  Gulf  and  Atlantic  ports  of  the  United 
States.  The  Canal  will  be  the  great  gate-way  through  which 
will  flow  to  our  shores  a  stream  of  progress,  carrying  along 
with  it  men  with  capital,  men  with  energy  and  activity, 
men  who  will  come  to  us  in  the  spirit  that  the  pioneers 
from  these  New  England  States,  went  into  the  West  of  this 
great  country  and  founded  there  a  greater  empire  of  wealth 
than  even  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  founded  in  this  section  of 
your  country. 


THE   DEVELOPMENT  OF   NATIONALITY  17 

There  is  a  happy  faculty  that  is  common  to  the  whole  of 
America  of  being  able  to  readily  assimilate  diverse  foreign 
immigrants  and  turn  them  into  good  citizens.  The  "melt- 
ing pot"  does  not  exist  only  in  your  country.  In  each  of  the 
Latin-American  nations  it  is  doing  the  work  of  fusing  into 
one  great  nationality  the  stray  elements  from  all  over  Europe. 

Any  one  who  takes  up  a  directory  of  any  of  the  Latin- 
American  countries,  will  be  astonished  to  read  the  numbers 
of  names  of  English,  Scotch,  French,  Irish,  German,  Dutch, 
Scandinavian,  Italian  and  Slav  origin  that  are  to  be  found, 
and  he  will  be  even  more  astonished  when  he  learns  that 
the  Edwards,  the  McKennas,  the  Gallaghers,  the  Wash- 
bournes,  the  Evans,  the  Midler,  the  Cawthorns,  the  O'Don- 
nells,  the  Elmores,  the  Lynch,  the  Lefevre,  the  Duboi.-^,  the 
Mulanvioitz,  the  Godinskis,  the  Canevaro,  the  Figari,  the 
Hemmerde,  the  Schafifers,  the  Von  der  Heyde,  the  Jacobys, 
the  Solomons,  the  Dreyfous,  the  Bergman,  the  Bryce,  Smith, 
the  Black,  the  White,  the  Greene,  the  Brown,  the  Jones, 
the  Walkers,  the  Schreit-Muller,  the  Scriebens,  the  Hahns, 
etc.,  are  Latin-Americans  of  two  or  more  generations. 

At  present  in  Peru,  our  president  is  Sefior  Billinghurst; 
two  members  of  the  Supreme  Court  are  Justice  Elmore  and 
Justice  Washbourne,  the  president  of  the  Lima  Chamber  of 
Commerce  is  Seiior  Gallagher,  the  assistant  secretary  of 
state  is  Sefior  Althous,  the  consul  general  in  New  York, 
is  Sefior  Higginson,  the  charg6  d'alTairos  in  Great  Britain  is 
Sefior  Lembcke,  one  of  our  most  distinguished  generals  is 
Senor  Canevaro;  one  of  the  leaders  in  congress,  is  Sefior 
Solomon — all  of  these  are  Peruvian  citizens  by  right  of  birth. 
South  America  by  reason  of  its  great  territorial  vastness,  is 
a  world  in  itself — furthermore,  it  is  self-supporting;  without 
dispute  it  is  the  richest  section  of  the  entire  world,  having 
more  natural  resources  and  greater  potential  power  for  de- 
velopment than  any  portion  of  the  world,  that  is  still  unde- 
veloped. From  our  colleges  men  of  intellect  and  of  learning 
are  taking  their  place  in  the  world  of  knowledge  alongside 
with  the  scholars  and  thinkers  in  other  countries.  I  believe 
that  we  have  reached  in  Latin  America  a  stage  of  develop- 
ment that  is  molding  a  true  and  distinct  nationality,  and 


18  FEDERICO   A.    PEZET 

that  from  now  on  we  will  occupy  a  position  in  the  world's 
councils. 

The  native  Indian  population,  so  long  neglected,  is  now 
a  matter  of  deep  concern  to  many  of  our  countries,  and  in 
Peru,  where  we  have  a  very  large  percentage  of  pure  Indian 
and  of  mestizos,  we  are  doing  everything  that  is  possible 
in  order  to  undo  the  evil  and  the  many  injustices  that  have 
been  done  unto  them  since  their  country  was  rested  from 
them  at  the  Conquest. 

This  is  a  problem  of  the  greatest  importance  and  one  that 
is  receiving  the  greatest  attention  in  my  country  from  the 
men  who  have  at  heart  the  welfare,  prosperity  and  the  future 
of  the  nation. 

In  the  foregoing,  I  have  attempted  to  present  the  many 
drawbacks  that  the  Latin-American  nations  have  had  in 
the  development  of  nationality. 

I  would  beg  you  to  consider  this  question  when  you  are 
judging  the  Latin-American.  Bear  in  mind  what  I  have 
tried  to  make  clear  to  you,  and  if  you  do  this,  you  will 
better  be  able  to  understand  his  idiosyncrasy  and,  in  time, 
you  will  perhaps  look  upon  him  as  a  companion  and  a  fellow- 
worker  in  the  great  cause  of  human  uplift.  We  are  all  striv- 
ing for  a  common  goal,  our  methods  may  differ,  but  our 
aspirations  are  the  same,  and  the  earnest  endeavor  of  each 
is  worthy  of  the  respect  of  the  other. 


PAN-AMERICAN  POSSIBILITIES 

By  John  Barrett,  Director-General  of  the  Pan-American 

Union,  formerly  United  States  Minister  to  Siam, 

Argentina,  Panama  and  Colombia 

We  are  at  the  beginning  of  a  great  Pan-American  era. 
The  next  ten  years  are  going  to  be  Pan-American  years. 
As  during  the  past  fifteen  years  Asia  has  been  very  much 
to  the  front,  causing  our  eyes  to  be  constantly  on  Japan, 
China,  and  the  PhiUppines,  so  now  during  the  next  decade 
we  shall  be  looking  largely  at  the  countries  of  Central  and 
South  America. 

You  will  pardon  me  for  speaking  with  both  earnestness 
and  enthusiasm.  For  fourteen  years  I  have  beeti  studying 
Latin-American  potentialities  and  progress.  During  the 
first  seven  of  these  years  it  was  my  privilege,  as  United 
/  States  minister  in  ^\jgentina,  Panama  and  Colombia,  to 
study  that  part  of  the  world  intimately  from  the  standpoint 
of  a  United  States  minister.  During  the  last  seven  years, 
as  the  executive  officer  of  the  Pan-American  Union,  it  has 
been  my  duty  to  study  every  republic  of  the  western  hemi- 
sphere from  its  own  standpoint  as  well  as  from  the  standpoint 
of  other  countries  and  peoples.  At  first  I  found  it  extremely 
difficult  to  awaken  the  interest  and  draw  the  attention  of 
universities  Uke  this  one,  of  public  schools,  of  newspapers, 
of  magazines,  of  lecturers,  of  writers,  of  travelers,  and  of  bus- 
iness men.  They  did  not  seem  to  care  for  Latin  America. 
They  did  not  ai^preciate  what  these  twenty  countries  south 
of  us  meant  to  the  United  States. 

But  a  great  change  has  now  come.  The  Pan-American 
Union  is  almost  reaping  the  whirlwind  of  its  pioneer  efforts 
and  all  the  world  seems  anxious  to  know  more  of  the  Latin- 
American  countries  and  peoples.  The  demand  for  informa- 
tion about  all  of  them,  their  commerce  and  trade,  their 
institutions,  their  agricultural,  mineral  and  timber  resources, 

19 


20  JOHN   BARRETT 

their  material  and  economic  possibilities,  their  industrial 
development,  and  their  educational  advancement  is  almost 
beyond  the  capacity  of  the  Pan-American  Union  to  meet. 
Where  there  was  one  article  in  a  newspaper  a  few  years  ago 
about  Latin-American  countries,  their  politics  and  possi- 
bilities, there  are  now  a  score  of  articles.  Where  then  on 
magazine  had  a  stray  paper  on  Latin  America,  nearly  every 
magazine  is  now  describing  that  field.  In  contrast  to  only 
a  few  universities,  colleges,  academies  and  high  schools 
taking  up  the  study  of  Spanish  six  or  seven  years  ago,  there 
is  a  multitude  of  them  all  over  the  country  teaching  this 
language.  Where  one  traveler  seeking  entertainment  and 
amusement  went  to  Central  and  South  America  ten  years 
ago,  a  dozen  are  now  going.  WTiere  one  exporter  or  importer 
went  personally  to  investigate  the  Latin-American  field  a 
decade  ago,  a  score  are  now  going.  It  is  remarkable,  more- 
over, that  during  the  last  ten  or  twelve  years  the  value  of  the 
exchange  of  products  between  the  United  States  and  Latin 
America  has  increased  nearly  100  per  cent,  until  it  has  reached 
a  surprising  total  of  approximately  $850,000,000. 

Remembering  that  commerce  is  often  called  the  life  blood 
of  nations,  it  is  well  to  note  that  the  twenty  countries  of 
Latin  America  last  year  bought  and  sold  in  the  markets  of 
the  world  products  valued  in  excess  of  $2,500,000,000.  This 
in  turn  represents  an  increase  of  nearly  $1,000,000,000  in  the 
last  decade.  These  figures  are  all  the  more  remarkable 
when  we  remember  that  all  of  these  countries  lie  south  of 
the  great  eastern  and  western  routes  of  trade  and  travel- 
that  it  is  only  within  the  last  five  years  that  there  has  really 
been  a  world  appreciation  of  Latin  America — and  that  the 
Panama  Canal  with  its  great  future  effect  on  trade  is  not 
yet  opened.  Surely  the  most  skeptical  person  must  give 
Latin  America  credit  for  these  facts  and  figures. 

While  considering  some  data  concerning  commerce,  let 
us  remember  that  these  twenty  countries  which  reach  from 
northern  INIexico  and  Cuba  south  to  Argentina  and  Chile 
cover  a  combined  area  of  nearly  9,000,000  of  square  miles 
which  is  equal  to  an  area  nearly  three  times  that  of  the 
United  States  proper.    They  support  a  population  of  70,000,- 


SUMMARIZED    EXTRACTS    FROM   ADDRESS  21 

000  which  is  growing  faster  by  reproduction  than  is  the 
100,000,000  popuhition  of  the  United  States. 

If,  on  tlie  other  hand,  we  are  influenced  by  sentiment — 
and  we  should  be — it  is  well  to  bear  in  mind  tiiat  the  majority 
of  these  countries  secured  their  indei)endence  under  the 
leadership  of  generals  and  patriots  who,  in  their  own  biog- 
raphies, state  that  they  were  inspired  to  make  their  fight 
by  the  example  of  the  immortal  George  Washington  of 
the  United  States.  It  should  also  be  borne  in  mind  that  the 
majority  of  these  countries  have  written  their  constitutions 
upon  the  constitution  of  the  United  States.  While  these 
sentimental  facts  may  make  the  people  of  the  United  States 
proud,  the}'  should  also  cause  them  to  look  appreciatingly 
and  without  a  patronizing  attitude  towards  the  Latin- 
American  countries,  their  peoples  and  their  institutions. 
The  latter  should  be  given  credit  for  the  astonishing  progress 
they  have  made  despite  many  adverse  conditions  of  location, 
climate  and  population.  They  must  be  given  credit  for  the 
high  class  civilization  that  is  developed  in  many  of  them. 
It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  Lima,  Peru,  had  a  university, 
that  of  San  Carlos,  which  was  nearly  a  hundred  years  old 
before  John  Harvard  or  Eli  Yale  founded  the  universities 
which  carry  their  illustrious  names.  While  our  average 
professors  and  students  may  not  be  familiar  with  the  litera- 
ture of  Latin  America,  that  part  of  the  world  has  in  reality 
a  list  of  historians,  essayists,  poets,  novelists,  writers  on 
international  law  and  scientific  subjects  which  would  surprise 
the  average  North  ^Vmerican  if  he  were  to  investigate  tlie  roll 
of  honor  and  achievement  of  Latin  America. 

There  are  some  bogies  about  the  countries^  the  peoples 
and  the  commerce  of  Central  and  South  America  which 
should  be  destroyed.  One  is  that  there  is  an  overwhelming 
sentiment  in  Latin  America  against  the  United  States. 
While  it  is  true  that  certain  newsjiaper  writers  and  public 
speakers  never  lose  an  opportunity  to  arouse  sentiment 
against  the  United  States,  they  corresj^ond  exactly  to  a 
certain  class  of  new5^ai)er  writers  and  pul)lic  sjieakers  in 
the  United  States  who  are  always  attacking  foreign  countries 
and  pursuing  jingo  tactics  but  who  do  not  necessarily  repre- 


22  JOHN   BARRETT 

sent  the  sober  public  sentiment  of  the  land.  The  big, 
strong,  able  and  influential  statesmen  in  the  Latin-American 
republics  have  no  bitter  feeling  against  similar  men  in  the 
United  States,  and  are  only  too  glad  to  cooperate  with  the 
corresponding  men  in  the  United  States  for  the  good  of  the 
western  hemisphere.  There  is,  it  is  true,  a  great  deal  of 
misinformation  and  prejudice  throughout  Latin  America  as 
far  as  the  Ignited  States  is  concerned,  but  it  can  be  removed 
by  the  pur^ance  of  the  right  poUcy  on  the  part  of  the  govern- 
ment and  people  of  the  United  States  towards  the  peoples 
and  governments  of  Latin  ^-Vmerica. 

Another  bogie  is  that  the  countries  of  Latin  .'\jnerica 
are  lands  of  revolution.  There  is  a  tendency  to  hold  the 
six-pe(nce  of  prejudice  too  near  the  eye  in  looking  at  the 
troubles  in  a  few  countries  and  thus  not  to  see  the  prevailing 
peace  in  other  lands.  Two-thirds  of  the  territory  and  area 
of  Latin  America  have  known  no  serious  revolution  in  the 
last  twenty-five  years.  Revolutions,  moreover,  are  often 
grossly  exaggerated  in  the  reports  which  reach  the  United 
States. 

Still  another  bogie  is  that  there  are  no  good  mail  and 
passenger  steamship  connections  between  the  United  States 
and  the  Latin-American  countries.  The  answer  to  this  is 
that  the  mail,  passenger  and  freight  facilities  between  the 
principal  ports  of  the  United  States  and  all  of  the  ten  or 
eleven  countries  bordering  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the 
Caribbean  Sea  are  excellent  and  far  better  than  the  average 
person  even  dreams  that  they  can  be.  ^^'^lile  the  service 
down  the  west  coast  of  South  America  can  be  considerably 
improved,  it  is  far  better  now  than  it  was  formerly  and  will 
probably  be  excellent  soon  after  the  canal  is  opened.  As 
for  the  vessels  plying,  for  example,  between  New  York  and 
the  east  coast  ports  of  Rio  de  Janeiro,  ^Montevideo  and 
Buenos  Aires,  it  can  be  said  that  there  has  been  a  hundred 
per  cent  improvement  in  the  last  few  years,  until  almost 
every  week  vessels  of  first-class  passenger  accommodations 
are  sailing  with  ample  accommodations  for  passengers  as  well 
as  freight.  The  steamships  are  not  as  large  or  as  numerous 
as  those  which  ply  between  Europe  and  the  east  coast  of 


SUMMARIZED    EXTRACTS    FROM    ADDRESS  23 

South  America  because  the  conditions  do  not  requh*e  it,  but 
they  are  far  better  than  is  generally  supposed. 

There  is  also  a  bogie,  prevailing  in  the  minds  of  a  majority 
of  the  people  who  have  not  studied  carefully  the  geography 
of  Latin  America,  that  they  are  all  hot  or  tropical  countries. 
It  is  overlooked  that  the  great  southern  end  of  South  Amer- 
ica, including  southern  Brazil,  all  of  Uruguay,  practically  all 
of  Argentina,  and  nearly  all  of  Paraguay  and  Chile,  are  in 
the  south  temperate  zone.  It  is  also  overlooked  that  in  the 
countries  right  under  the  equator,  or  near  it,  there  are 
remarkable  plateaus  in  the  Andes  and  other  mountain 
ranges  where  the  temperature  remains  the  year  around  at 
about  the  temperature  which  prevails  in  Massachusetts  in 
June  and  September.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  if  a 
man  is  on  the  seashore  of  Ecuador  where  the  equator 
crosses  South  America,  he  can  experience  a  greater  change  of 
climate  by  traveling  inland  and  upland  for  five  hours  on  the 
back  of  a  mule  than  he  can  in  traveling  north  or  south  for 
six  days  on  the  deck  of  a  steamer!  When  I  made  a  journey 
of  nearly  2000  miles  through  the  Andes  of  Colombia  and 
Ecuador  in  the  sunmier  of  190G,  during  my  incumbency  of 
the  post  of  minister  of  the  United  States  at  Bogota,  the 
capital  of  Colombia,  I  had  the  unique  experience  of  sleeping 
on  the  equator  under  three  heav>'  blankets  and  being  obliged 
to  build  a  good  fire  in  order  to  get  warm  in  the  morning! 
That  was  at  an  elevation  of  nearly  12,000  feet.  In  Bogota 
and  Quito,  which,  are  within  a  short  distance  of  the  equator 
as  one  looks  at  the  map,  I  never  say  the  thermometer  in  the 
offices  of  the  United  States  legations  in  those  capiLiIs  go 
above  78°,  while  frequently  at  night  it  would  go  down  to 
60°,  and  yet  both  of  these  cities  are  located  on  plateaus, 
either  of  which  could  support  a  million  or  more  population. 

Now  let  me  drive  home  one  or  two  remarkable  facts  about 
each  one  of  the  Latin-American  countries,  so  that  the  new 
student  of  Latin  America  who  may  hear  or  read  what  I  am 
saying  tonight  will  understand  to  some  ext<?nt  my  int<?rest  in 
these  republics. 

Glancing  at  South  America  and  first  noting  Brazil,  we 
are  impressed  by  the  fact  that  it  covers  an  area  groator  than 


24  JOHN   BARRETT 

the  connected  area  of  the  United  States;  that  in  the  Amazon 
it  has  a  river  whch  empties  into  the  ocean  daily  four  times 
the  volume  of  water  which  the  ^Mississippi  pours  into  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  that  Rio  de  Janeiro,  its  capital,  has 
already  reached  a  population  of  1,000,000  and  is  regarded 
as  one  of  the  show  cities  of  the  world. 

Uruguay,  lying  between  Brazil  and  Argentina,  occupies 
a  position  in  South  America  similar  to  that  of  Holland  and 
Belgium  in  Europe.  It  is  a  land  of  remarkable  progress, 
and  its  capital  city,  IMontevideo,  has  a  population  of  nearly 
500,000. 

Argentina  covers  an  area  larger  than  the  entire  section  of 
the  United  States  east  of  the  IMississippi  River.  Its  capital 
city,  Buenos  Aires,  often  called  the  "Paris  of  America," 
has  a  population  of  nearly  1,600,000.  It  is  the  largest  city 
in  the  world  south  of  the  equator,  the  second  Latin  city, 
ranking  after  Paris,  and  the  fourth  city  of  the  western 
hemisphere,  following  after  New  York,  Chicago  and  Phila- 
delphia. Argentina  last  year,  with  a  population  of  approxi- 
mately 9,000,000,  conducted  a  foreign  trade  of  $900,000,000, 
which  is  greater  than  the  foreign  trade  of  Japan  or  China. 

Chile  extends  for  2600  miles  along  the  southern  Pacific 
temperate  coast  of  South  America.  Its  capital,  Santiago, 
is  often  called  the  "Paris  of  the  Andes,"  and  has  a  population 
of  500,000.  The  principal  port  of  Chile,  Valparaiso,  is 
spending  $3^5,000,000  in  preparing  for  the  opening  of  the 
Panama  Canal. 

Paraguay,  lying  also  between  Brazil  and  Argentina,  is  a 
land  of  remarkable  potentialities  just  starting  upon  a  new 
era  of  agricultural  development.  Asunci6n,  its  capital,  is 
one  of  the  interesting  cities  of  South  America. 

North  of  Argentina  and  northeast  of  Chile  is  Bolivia, 
covering  an  area  twice  that  of  the  state  of  Texas  and  enjoying 
a  period  of  remarkable  mining  and  railroad  development. 
La  Paz,  its  capital,  is  the  highest  capital  city  in  the  world, 
but  is  connected  by  railroads  with  the  ports  of  Chile  and 
Peru  on  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

Peru,  lying  northwest  of  Chile,  has  a  reach  on  the  Pacific 
Ocean  equal  to  that  of  the  whole  Atlantic  Coast  of  the 


SUMMARIZED    EXTRACTS   FROM   ADDRESS  25 

United  States  from  iMaine  to  Georgia,  with  a  corresponding 
variety  of  products.  Lima,  its  capital  city,  is  famous  for  its 
culture  and  possesses  the  ancient  University  of  San  Carlos, 
to  which  I  have  already  referred. 

North  of  Peru  is  Ecuador,  into  which  Massachusetts 
could  be  placed  nearly  ten  times  over.  Its  port,  Guayaquil, 
will  be  one  of  the  principal  harbors  on  the  Pacific  south  of 
the  Panama  Canal  when  it  is  made  sanitary.  Quito,  its 
capital,  is  one  of  the  old  but  attractive  mountain  cities  of 
South  America,  and  is  connected  with  Guayaquil  by  a 
railroad  which  is  a  remarkable  engineering  achievement. 

North  of  Ecuador,  and  the  only  country  which  has  an 
extensive  coast  line  on  both  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific,  is 
Colombia,  with  an  area  nearly  equal  to  that  of  France  and 
Spain  combined.  Bogota,  its  capital,  located  about  600 
miles  in  the  interior,  is  situated  on  a  plateau  nearly  as  large 
as  the  state  of  Connecticut.  This  city  is  noted  for  the  culture 
of  its  people  and  the  high  quality  of  its  civilization. 

Venezuela,  the  most  northern  of  the  countries  of  the  South 
American  continent,  is  nearly  as  large  as  Colombia  in  area, 
and  possesses  within  its  Umits  the  mighty  valley  of  the 
Orinoco.  Caracas,  its  capital,  is  one  of  the  attractive  cities 
of  the  so-called  "Spanish  Main"  visited  by  the  American 
traveler. 

Turning  now  to  the  countries  of  Latin  America  which 
are  in  North  .Ajnerica,  we  find  that  Panama  has  much  to 
her  credit  aside  from  the  Panama  Canal,  and  is  now  entering 
upon  a  period  of  material  and  economic  development  which 
will  be  an  influence  other  than  the  Panama  Canal  to  advance 
its  prosperity. 

Costa  Rica,  northwest  of  Panama,  is  famous  for  its 
stability  of  government,  having  known  no  serious  revolution 
since  it  was  established  as  a  republic.  San  Jose,  its  capital, 
is  readily  accessible  by  rail  from  the  port  of  Limon  on  the 
Caribbean  and  is  becoming  more  and  more  a  point  of  visit 
by  American  travelers. 

Nicaragua,  north  of  Costa  Rica,  is  a  country  of  extraor- 
dinary natural  possibilities,  and,  when  onoe  permanent  peace 
is  established,  it  will  surely  go  ahead  with  rapid  strides. 


26  JOHN   BARRETT 

Managua,  its  capital,  on  the  lake  of  similar  name,  is  only- 
awaiting  the  touch  of  a  new  material  era  to  become  a  pro- 
gressi\'e  city, 

Hondm'as,  lying  north  of  Nicaragua,  is  another  land  of 
vast  potentialities  which  only  requires  the  construction  of 
railways  and  investment  of  capital  for  opening  up  its  interior 
to  enter  upon  an  era  of  prosperity.  Tegucigalpa,  its  capital, 
when  connected  by  railway  with  the  Caribbean  on  the  one 
side  and  the  Pacific  on  the  other  is  sure  to  evolve  into  a  city 
of  modern  progress. 

Salvador,  the  only  Central  American  country  bordering 
solely  upon  the  Pacific  Ocean,  has  the  largest  per  capita 
population  of  any  American  country,  and  has  enjoyed 
comparative  peace  and  prosperity  for  a  number  of  years. 
Its  capital,  San  Salvador,  is  a  prosperous  city. 

Guatemala,  the  most  northern  and  western  of  the  Central 
American  Republics,  has  enjoyed  a  long  period  of  peace 
which  has  been  characterized  by  the  construction  of  railways 
and  the  development  of  the  interior,  and  has  brought  a 
large  amount  of  capital  into  that  country.  Its  capital, 
Guatemala  City,  is  the  largest  of  the  Central  .American 
capitals  and  easily  reached  by  railway  from  the  Caribbean  or 
Pacific  sides. 

Of  Cuba,  let  it  be  said  that  it  is  justifying  the  confidence 
that  has  been  placed  in  it  as  an  independent  republic  and  it 
is  now  going  ahead  with  strides  which  are  surprising  to  those 
who  have  not  kept  track  of  its  onward  movement.  Havana, 
its  capital,  can  not,  be  classed  as  one  of  the  great  capitals  of 
the  western  hemisphere,  having  passed  the  mark  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  in  population. 

Of  the  Dominican  Republic  and  Haiti,  it  can  be  said  that 
they  form  one  of  the  richest  islands  in  the  world,  and,  when 
once  permanent  peace  and  stability  are  established,  they 
are  sure  to  progress  in  a  way  that  will  astonish  their  critics. 
Port-au-Prince,  the  capital  of  Haiti,  and  Santo  Domingo, 
the  capital  of  the  Dominican  Republic,  are  now  in  a  process 
of  evolution  from  the  old  to  the  new  style  of  city  and  both 
are  ports  of  importance  upon  the  Caribbean.  To  Mexico 
I  refer  later  on. 

In  making  this  survey  I  have  only  touched  upon,  as  it 


SUMMARIZED    EXTRACTS   FROM   ADDRESS  27 

were,  a  few  of  the  high  points.  The  student  will  bo  expected 
to  study  each  country  carefully,  and,  if  he  docs,  he  will 
discover  facts  and  figures  which  will  not  only  awaken  his 
interest  but  cause  him  to  become  an  advocate  of  more  general 
appreciation  in  the  United  States  of  these  countries,  their 
peoples  and  their  possibilities. 

In  discussing  this  great  subject,  it  is  iti  order  to  make  a 
few  observations  in  regard  to  the  meaning  of  the  Panama 
Canal.  In  studying  the  effect  of  that  mighty  waterway,  it 
is  a  mistake  to  think  only  of  the  countries  and  the  commerce 
which  will  be  reached  through  and  beyond  the  canal.  We 
must  also  think  of  the  countries  and  the  commerce  on  the 
road  to  the  canal  from  the  Gulf  and  Atlantic  seaboard  of  the 
United  States.  It  is  not  generally  appreciated  in  tlie  hasty 
judgment  of  the  passing  observer  that  eleven  Latin-American 
countries  are  tributary  to  either  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  or  the 
Caribbean  Sea  which  form  the  great  basin  approaches  to  the 
canal.  The  ports  of  these  countries  have  heretofore  been, 
to  a  considerable  degree,  in  a  conomercial  pocket  or  cul-de- 
sac,  but  they  are  all  beginning  to  feel  a  new  life  as  a  result 
of  being  taken  from  this  pocket  or  cul-de-sac  and  placed 
upon  a  groat  avenue  of  international  trade  and  travel.  The 
student  who  has  watched  the  history  of  the  Gulf  and  Carib- 
bean coast  line  is  profoundly  impressed  with  the  changes 
which  have  come  in  the  last  few  years  as  a  result  of  the  build- 
ing of  the  canal  and  of  the  expectations  of  what  will  follow 
its  opening. 

Looking  beyond  the  canal,  with  reference  to  Latin  Amer- 
ica and  without  considering  the  commerce  of  the  entire 
Pacific  Ocean,  valued  at  $4,000,000,000,  and  having  tribu- 
tary to  it  nearly  1,000,000,000  of  the  world's  poinilation,  we 
note  that  twelve  of  the  countries  of  Central  and  South 
America  either  have  a  coast  line  upon  the  Pacific  Ocean  or 
are  tributary  to  it.  There  is  a  reach  of  8000  miles  from 
northwest  to  southeast  or  from  the  Califomia-^Moxico  line 
to  the  Straits  of  ^Magellan.  While  many  differ  with  me  as 
to  the  future  growth  and  possibilities  of  this  western  coast, 
I  am  convinced  that  the  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal  will 
have  the  same  influence  on  it  that  the  building  of  the  trans- 
continental   railways    had    ujKin    California,    Oregon    and 


28  JOHN   BARRETT 

Washington.  It  was  not  long  ago  that  these  three  states  of 
the  United  States  were  regarded  as  almost  barren  and 
impossible  of  supporting  large  populations.  There  is  a 
corresponding  opinion  among  some  critics  of  the  western 
shore  countries  of  Central  and  South  iVmetica,  but  I  can  not 
understand  how  a  man,  who  has  intimately  studied  them  as 
I  have,  can  come  to  any  other  conclusion  than  that  they  have 
extraordinary  possibilities  of  material,  economic,  industrial 
and  agricultural  development.  The  change  will  not  come 
at  once,  and  may  not  come  for  some  years,  but  eventually 
it  will  come  to  such  an  extent  as  to  confound  the  skeptical 
persons  of  the  present. 

You  ask  me  before  I  close  to  say  a  word  in  regard  to 
IMexico.  While  I  can  not  discuss  the  political  situation  or 
the  pros  and  cons  of  the  attitude  of  the  present  administra- 
tion, I  can,  as  an  international  officer  having  in  mind  the 
peace  and  welfare  of  the  whole  western  continent,  raise  my 
voice  against  war  with  ]\Iexico.  "  Lest  we  forget"  should  be 
constantly  our  motto  in  considering  this  problem.  We  must 
bear  in  mind  that  this  struggle  of  JNIexico  is  not  a  war  against 
the  United  States  but  is  a  civil  struggle.  We  must  not 
forget  that  the  United  States,  from  1861  to  1865  carried  on 
the  greatest  civil  war  in  the  history  of  the  western  hemisphere 
and  that  was  followed  by  ten  years  of  awful  reconstruction. 
In  our  civil  war  more  lives  were  lost  and  more  property 
destroyed  than  in  all  the  revolutions  of  Latin  America  put 
together  for  the  last  twenty-five  years.  We  must  remember 
that  where  one  American  has  lost  his  life  in  Mexico  hundreds 
of  ^Mexicans  have  lost  their  lives;  that  where  one  American 
family  has  suffered,  hundreds  of  ^Mexican  families  have 
suffered,  and  where  one  dollar  of  American  money  has  been 
lost,  hundreds  of  dollars  of  Mexican  money  and  property  have 
been  lost  or  destroyed.  We  must  not  overlook  the  fact, 
moreover,  that  a  war  with  Mexico  might  mean  a  bloody 
struggle  in  which  thousands  of  our  best  men  would  be  killed 
and  as  a  result  of  which  an  enormous  pension  list  would  be 
established  that  would  go  on  for  the  next  fifty  years.  It 
might  also  develop  a  feeling  of  hostility  not  only  in  Mexico 
but  throughout  all  Latin  America  against  us  which  would 
counteract  all  the  work  of  the  past  ten  years  for  Pan-Ameri- 


SUMMARIZED    EXTR.\CTS   FROM   ADDRESS  20 

can  accord  and  defeat  corresponding  efforts  in  the  future. 
Let  us  go  slow  and  with  sincere  piety  pray  that  peace  may 
come  in  Mexico  without  war  between  it  and  the  United 
States.  If  the  Mexican  question  can  be  settled  as  a  result 
of  a  kindly  and  sympathetic  attitude  on  the  part  of  the 
United  States,  there  is  no  limit  to  the  degree  of  Pan-American 
commerce  and  comity  which  will  be  developed  not  only 
between  the  United  States  and  IMexico  but  between  the 
Ignited  States  and  all  the  other  republics  of  the  western 
hemisphere. 

In  conclusion,  permit  me  to  observe  that,  if  what  I  have 
said  here,  arouses  greater  and  further  interest,  among  my 
hearers  or  readers,  in  the  countries  of  Latin  America,  I 
hope  they  will  not  hesitate  to  get  in  touch  with  the  Pan- 
American  L^nion,  of  which  I  have  the  honor  to  be  the  execu- 
tive oflicer.  As  many  of  you  have  been  so  busy  with  your 
various  activities  that  you  have  not  followed  with  detail 
the  work  and  scope  of  this  organization,  I  will  define  it  to 
you  in  a  single  sentence.  The  Pan-American  Union  is  the 
international  organization,  with  its  central  office  in  Washing- 
ton, of  all  the  twenty-one  American  republics,  devoted  to 
the  development  and  advancement  of  friendship,  good 
understanding,  mutual  acquaintance  and  commerce  among 
them  all,  supported  by  their  joint  contributions  based  ui)()n 
population,  controlled  by  a  governing  board  consisting  of 
the  diplomatic  representatives  in  Washington  of  the  Latin- 
American  countries  and  the  secretary  of  state  of  the  United 
States,  administered  by  a  director-general  chosen  by  this 
board  and  therefore  performing  the  functions  of  an  interna- 
tional officer  rather  than  those  of  an  officer  of  any  particular 
country,  and  who,  iti  turn,  is  assisted  by  a  large  staff  of 
international  experts,  statisticians,  commercial  specialists, 
editors,  translators,  compilers,  lil^rarians,  et  al.  Having  its 
home  in  a  building  erected  through  the  generosity  of  Mr. 
Carnegie  and  descril)ed  by  the  greatest  living  French  archi- 
tect as  "possessing  beauty  of  architecture  and  nobility  of 
purpose  more  than  any  other  public  l)ui]ding  of  its  cost  in 
the  world,"  it  invites  ever>'  man  of  this  wide  world  who  may 
be  interested  in  Pan-American  development  or  Pan-American 
historv  to  come  within  its  doors  and  make  use  of  its  facilities. 


A  GLANCE  AT  LATIN-AiVIERICAN 
CIVILIZATION 

By  Francisco  J.  Yanes,  Asst.  Director,  and  Secretary  of  the 
Governing  Board,  of  the  Pan-American  Union 

The  civilization  of  peoples  cannot  always  be  gauged  by 
set  standards.  There  are  varying  factors  to  be  taken  into 
consideration  and  discrepancies  to  be  accounted  for  in  meas- 
uring the  degree  of  cultural  and  industrial  progress  of  a 
nation.  Conditions  growing  out  of  racial  characteristics, 
historical  necessities,  geographical  position,  custom  and 
habit,  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other  the  basic  principles 
upon  which  different  societies  have  been  built,  must  not  be 
lost  sight  of  in  dealing  with,  or  rather,  in  endeavoring  to 
understand  the  factors  that  have  led  to  the  progress  of  a 
given  nation,  or  aggregate  of  nations  of  the  same  or  similar 
origin. 

Latin-American  civiUzation  from  an  Anglo-Saxon  point 
of  view  may  be  found  wanting  in  many  respects,  but  the  life 
and  happiness  of  nations,  the  ideals  and  hopes  of  their  peoples, 
their  legislation  and  institutions,  are  not  to  be  found  ready 
made,  but  have  to  be  worked  out  to  meet  peculiar  wants, 
and  in  accordance  with  the  racial,  mental,  moral  and  mate- 
rial resources  and  necessities  of  each. 

We  must  deal  with  Latin  America  as  a  whole  if  we  wish  to 
cast  a  rapid  glance  at  its  civihzation.  Some  of  the  twenty 
free  and  independent  states  which  in  their  aggregate  make 
up  Latin  .America  have  developed  more  than  others,  and  a 
few  marvelously  so,  but  whether  north  or  south  of  the  Pan- 
ama Canal,  east  or  west,  on  the  Atlantic  or  the  Pacific,  on 
the  Caribbean  or  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  the  countries  of  Latin 
America  sprang  from  the  same  race — the  brave,  hardy,  ad- 
venturous, romantic  and  warlike  Spanish  and  Portuguese 
conquerors,  who  fought  their  way  through  unknown  terri- 
tories, whether  in  quest  of  ''El  Dorado"  or  in  warfare  against 

30 


A    GLANCE    AT    L-\TIN    AMERICAN    CIVILIZATION  31 

whole  nations  of  Indians,  as  in  the  case  of  Mexico  and  Peru, 
where  the  native  Indians  had  a  marvelous  civilization  of 
their  own. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  men  who  founded  these  United 
States,  the  Pilgrims  who  first  set  foot  on  this  new  land  of 
promise,  and  those  who  followed  in  the  wake  of  the  first 
settlers,  came  to  this  country  already  prepared,  through 
years  of  training,  to  govern  themselves.  They  came  to  the 
friendl}^  shores  of  the  New  World  in  quest  of  freedom.  They 
wanted  a  home  in  a  new  land  not  yet  contaminated  with  the 
spirit  of  the  Old  World.  They  brought  with  them  their 
creed,  their  habits  of  order  and  discipline,  their  love  of  free- 
dom, their  respect  for  the  established  principles  of  law. 
Hence  from  its  inception  Anglo-American  civilization  was 
built  upon  solid  ground.  Its  subsequent  development — 
the  marvel  of  the  last  half  of  the  nineteenth  and  this  our 
twentieth  century — is  due  to  the  solidity  of  their  institu- 
tions, theii-  steadfastness  of  purpose,  their  practical  sense  of 
life,  and  a  territorial  expanse  where  all  the  soils,  all  the  wealth, 
all  the  climatic  conditions  of  the  cold,  the  temperate  and  the 
tropical  zone  can  be  found. 

The  discussion  of  Latin-American  civilization  is  of  vast 
importance,  since  it  deals  with  the  history'-  and  development 
of  twenty  republics  lying  beyond  the  Mexican  border,  and 
covering  an  aggregate  area  of  about  9,000,000  square  miles, 
with  a  total  population  of  over  70,000,000,  of  which  48,000,000 
speak  the  Spanish  language,  20,000,000  Portuguese  in  Brazil, 
and  2,000,000  French  in  Haiti.  This  general  division  brings 
us  at  once  to  deal,  under  the  same  classification,  with  peoples 
and  ci\ilization  springing  from  different  sources — Spanish, 
Portuguese  and  French.  Even  among  the  Spanish-speaking 
countries  there  are  conditions,  depending  on  the  province 
of  origin  of  the  first  Spanish  colonizers  and  settlers,  who 
came  mainly  from  Biscay,  Andalusia,  Castile,  Aragon,  and 
Extremadura,  which  further  tend  to  establi.sh  other  slight 
differences,  just  as  the  various  states  of  this  country  show 
differences  due  to  the  sources  of  their  population. 

For  our  purpose,  a  general  survey  of  the  twenty  countries 


32  FRANCISCO   J.    YANES 

called  Latin  ,\merica  is  not  amiss.  Geographically,  Latin 
America  begins  beyond  the  Rio  Grande,  with  Mexico,  at  the 
southern  boundary  of  which  extends  what  is  called  Central 
America,  consisting  of  Guatemala,  Honduras,  Salvador, 
Nicaragua,  and  Costa  Rica,  the  historic  five  Central  Amer- 
ican states;  Panama,  the  gatewaj^  to  the  Pacific  on  the  west 
and  to  the  Caribbean  and  the  Atlantic  on  the  east;  South 
America  proper,  embracing  Venezuela  on  the  Caribbean, 
Colombia  on  that  sea  and  partly  on  the  Pacific;  Ecuador, 
Peru  and  Chile,  bordering  on  the  Pacific;  Bolivda  and  Para- 
guay, inland  states  in  the  heart  of  South  America ;  Argentina, 
Uruguay  and  Brazil  on  the  Atlantic;  and,  lastly,  Cuba, 
Haiti  and  the  Dominican  Republic,  islands  in  the  Caribbean 
Sea.  So  we  see  that  Latin  America  extends  from  the  north 
temperate  zone  to  Cape  Horn,  near  the  Antarctic  Ocean, 
which  means  that  all  climatic  conditions  are  found  in  that 
enormous  area  over  which  the  pole  star,  the  Southern  Cross, 
and  the  constellations  brightening  the  South  Pole  keep 
nightly  watch,  from  the  cool  regions  of  northern  Mexico  to 
the  tropical  heat  of.  the  torrid  zone  and  again  to  the  cold 
lands  of  Patagonia.  \^This  is  indeed  a  world  of  wealth  where 
all  the  products  of  the  entire  globe  can  be  successfully  cul- 
tivated, where  all  races  of  mankind  can  live  and  thrive,  be- 
cause the  Mexican  and  Central  American  Cordilleras,  and 
further  south  the  mighty  Andean  range,  offer  an  unbroken 
chain  of  lofty  peaks,  wide  valleys,  and  extensive  tablelands, 
affording  all  climates  and  zones,  all  kinds  of  soils  and  miner- 
als, the  only  limitations  to  the  development  of  these  lands 
being  human  endurance.  The  water  supply  is  plentiful  in 
most  parts  of  ^Mexico  and  the  Central  American  republics, 
and  there  is  nothing  in  the  world  which  can  be  compared  to 
the  hydrographic  areas  of  northern  and  central  South  Amer- 
ica, consisting  of  the  Orinoco  basin  with  its  400  affluents, 
offering  a  total  navigable  length  of  about  4000  miles;  the 
mighty  Amazon  having  three  times  the  volume  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi and  navigable  for  over  2000  miles,  and  the  network 
of  great  rivers  emptj'ing  into  it;  the  Parana  and  the  River 
Plata,  with  twice  the  volume  of  the  ^Mississippi,  and  a  thou- 


A  GLANCE  AT  LATIN-AMEHICAN  CrVILIZATION  33 

sand  other  streams  too  numerous  to  mention  in  detail,  but 
which  can  be  found  on  any  faii-l}''  good  map,  showing  a  feasible 
water  route  from  the  mouth  of  the  Orinoco  in  Vcnezuehi  to 
the  Amazon  and  the  very  heart  of  South  America,  and  thence 
to  the  Paranji  and  finally  to  the  River  Plata. 

W''e  all  know  how  Columbus  discovered  this  New  World 
which  today  bears  the  name  of  America  (although  the  appli- 
cation of  that  name  is  quite  restricted  in  this  country  to  the 
United  States) — we  have  all  heard  of  the  hardships  Colum- 
bus and  his  followers  had  to  endure,  their  sufferings,  their 
hopes,  and  their  faith  in  some  supernatural  fate,  a  trait  be- 
gotten by  the  influence  of  Moorish  ancestors  in  Spain  through 
the  mingling  of  both  races  during  the  occupation  wars  which 
lasted  over  eight  centuries.  The  discovery  of  America  has 
a  tinge  of  romance,  such  as  inspires  the  soul  of  the  adven- 
turer and  the  buccaneer.  It  was  a  romance  that  began  at 
the  R^bida,  grew  in  the  presence  and  with  the  help  of  good 
Queen  Isabella,  developed  into  a  mad  desire  for  adventure 
at  Palos,  and  ended  with  the  planting  of  the  Spanish  stand- 
ard on  the  shores  of  Guanahani,  now  called  Watling's  Island. 
From  here  Columbus  went  to  what  is  today  called  Cuba, 
thence  to  Hispaniola — now  divided  into  Haiti  and  the  Domin- 
ican Republic,  where  his  remains  now  rest  in  the  Cathedral 
at  Santo  Domingo — and  in  this  latter  island  founded  the 
first  white  settlement  in  the  New  World.  We  cannot  follow 
Columbus'  voyages  or  his  adventures  step  by  step,  but  we 
must  feel  that  the  discovery  of  .Ajnerica  is  an  epic  poem 
worthy  of  the  mettle  of  the  great  discoverer  and  his  men. 

And  so  the  civilization  of  what  is  called  Latin  America 
began  with  the  first  Spanish  settlement,  the  first  Indian  blood 
shed  by  the  greed  of  the  white  conqueror,  and  the  first  at- 
tempt to  Christianize  the  hihabitants  of  the  new-found  land. 
The  inevitable  features  of  conquest — war,  treachery,  de- 
struction, fire,  sword,  deeds  of  valor  but  little  known,  and 
endurance  almost  superhuman — marked  along  the  trail  of 
the  discoverers  the  birth  and  first  steps  of  the  New  World. 
And  in  the  midst  of  this  turmoil,  bravely  battling  against 
unknown  odds,  the  Spanish  missionary  fathers  worked  un- 


34  FRANCISCO  J.  YANES 

ceasingly,  founding  hamlets  and  towns,  thus  planting  in  the 
wilderness  the  seeds  of  many  a  large  city  today,  building 
their  temples  of  worship,  going  from  place  to  place  strug- 
gling with  disease  and  hunger,  teaching  the  Indians  the  Span- 
ish language  and  with  it  their  religious  faith,  and  lajdng  the 
foundation  of  what  is  known  today  as  Latin  America. 

The  second  stage  of  Latin- American  civilization  began  when 
the  crown  of  Spain  finally  took  an  active  interest  in  its  new 
possessions  and  men  of  a  better  class  than  the  soldiery  which 
landed  with  the  discoverers  and  conquerors  began  to  come 
to  the  New  World,  bringing  their  wives  and  daughters,  and 
surrounding  themselves  with  whatever  comforts  could  be 
had  in  their  new  home.  They  were  in  many  cases  scions  of 
noble  families,  who  came  either  as  viceroys,  governors,  or 
in  some  other  administrative  capacity,  or  as  ''oidores, " 
judges  and  men  of  letters  in  general.  There  also  came 
learned  monks,  and  among  these,  philosophers,  poets,  musi- 
cians, painters,  etc.  Hence  some  of  the  oldest  descriptions 
and  chronicles  of  Latin  America  are  in  verse  or  in  choice 
prose,  either  in  Spanish  or  in  Latin,  and  we  find  in  some  of 
the  oldest  cities  in  Spanish  America  wonderful  examples  of 
wood  carving,  either  in  churches  or  in  old  houses,  beautiful 
specimens  of  the  gold  and  silversmiths'  art  in  ware  of  the 
precious  metals,  some  fine  paintings,  and  unexcelled  samples 
of  the  art  of  illuminating  books,  particularly  missals. 

The  scholars,  either  members  of  the  religious  orders  or 
laymen,  began  to  gather  books  imported  from  Europe,  and 
so  our  libraries  were  started,  mainly  in  the  convents.  With 
this  feature  of  civilization  the  necessity  of  educating  the 
children  of  the  Spaniards  and  the  Indians  became  m'ore  press- 
ing, and  private  schools  and  seminaries  were  established,  as 
a  first  step  to  the  foundation  of  universities.  I  think  it  is 
due  to  the  Spaniards  to  state  right  here  that  both  in  Alexico 
and  in  Peru  schools  were  founded  for  the  education  of  the 
Indians,  to  teach  them  not  only  reading  and  writing,  but  the 
manual  arts  as  well. 

We  Latin  Americans  record  with  natural  pride  the  fact 
that  the  first  university  founded  in  the  New  World  was  that 


A  GLANCE  AT  LATIN-AMERICAN  CIVILIZATION  35 

of  Santo  Tomas  de  Aquino  at  Santo  Domingo,  in  1538. 
This  University  is  no  longer  in  existence,  but  we  still  have 
that  of  San  jMarcos  at  Lima,  Peru,  founded  in  1551;  the 
Uni\'ersity  of  Mexico,  established  in  1553  and  refounded  in 
1910;  the  University  of  Cordoba,  in  Argentina,  dating  from 
1613;  that  of  Sucre  in  Bolivia,  founded  in  1623,  or  tliirteen 
years  before  Harvard,  which  dates  from  1G36,  and  that  of 
Cuzco,  in  Peru,  established  in  1692,  or  eight  years  earlier 
than  Yale,  which  was  founded  in  1701.  The  University  of 
•  Caracas,  in  Venezuela,  dates  from  1721,  and  that  of  Habana, 
Cuba,  from  1728,  the  other  universities  founded  before  the 
nineteenth  century  being  that  of  Santiago,  Chile,  in  1743, 
and  the  University  of  Quito,  Ecuador,  in  1787. 

The  great  agent  of  civilization  and  progress,  the  printing 
press,  has  been  known  in  Latin  America  since  1536,  when  the 
first  printing  outfit  was  introduced  into  Mexico  and  the  first 
book  printed  in  the  New  World,  a  plea  of  Father  Las  Casas 
for  a  better  life.  Cartagena,  Colombia,  is  said  to  have  been 
the  second  city  of  America  to  have  a  printing  press,  in  1560  or 
1562,  but  Peru  seems  to  hold  the  record  for  the  first  book 
printed  in  South  America,  about  1584,  and  La  Paz,  Bolivia, 
had  a  printing  establishment  about  1610.  There  were  also  a 
press  and  other  printing  paraphernalia  at  the  Jesuit  missions 
of  Paraguay  about  the  first  decade  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
The  first  work  in  Bogotd  was  printed  about  1739;  Ecuador 
printed  its  first  book  in  1760,  and  Venezuela  in  1764,  while 
the  earliest  production  of  the  Chilean  press  bears  the  date  of 
1776,  and  there  was  a  printing  outfit  in  Cordoba,  Argentina, 
in  1767.  With  the  foundation  of  universities  and  schools 
and  more  frequent  communication  with  Spain  and  other 
European  countries  of  Latin  origin,  and  the  printing  of  books 
and  newspapers  in  the  New  World,  the  desire  for  learning 
was  developed  and  a  new  field  was  open  to  intellectual  culture. 
Dissatisfaction  of  the  colonies  with  the  exactions  and 
abuses  of  the  viceroys,  captains-general  and  other  officials 
representing  the  crown  of  Spain,  jealousies  between  the 
Creoles,  or  children  of  Spanish  parents  born  in  America,  and 
the  "peninsulars,"  or  native  Spaniards,  commercial  prefer- 


36  FRANCISCO  J.  YANES 

ence  and  social  distinctions,  and  other  petty  annoyances 
born  of  the  arrogance  of  the  Spaniards,  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  proud  nature  of  the  Creoles  on  the  other,  were  the  smoul- 
dering embers  that,  fanned  by  the  success  of  the  American 
Revolution  and  the  storm  of  the  French  Revolution,  set  on 
fire  the  Spanish  colonies  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  and  the 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  majority  of  the 
Spanish-American  countries  attained  their  independence 
between  1804  and  1825,  and  their  struggles  for  freedom, 
while  encouraged  by  the  example  of  the  United  States,  were 
inspired  in  French  ideals.  The  heroes  of  the  bloody  but 
romantic  French  Revolution,  their  fiery  speeches  and  un- 
daunted bravery,  their  proclamation  of  the  republic  and  the 
rights  of  man;  the  echoes  of  the  Boston  Tea-party,  the  ex- 
ploits of  the  spii'it  of  '76,  the  commanding  and  serene  figure 
of  Washington,  the  birth  of  the  American  Constitution,  the 
utterances  of  the  grave  thinkers  and  inspired  orators  of  the 
revolutionary  period — all  these  dazzling  examples  of  patriot- 
ism appealed  to  the  Spanish-American  colonists,  and  one  by 
one  the  colonies  began  then*  fight  for  independence.  The 
executions  and  ignominy  heaped  upon  the  first  patriots  who 
forfeited  their  lives  for  the  cause  of  independence,  instead  of 
discouraging  the  leaders,  made  them  more  aggressive,  and 
they  resolved  to  gain  the  day  at  all  hazards. 

We  come  now  to  the  most  brilliant  pages  of  the  history  of 
Latin  America,  and  upon  these  pages  are  written  the  names 
of  Miranda  of  Venezuela,  the  precursor  of  South  American 
independence;  Bolivar,  who  has  been  called  the  Washington 
of  South  America,  a  brilliant  soldier  and  born  leader,  the 
liberator  and  father  of  Venezuela,  his  native  country,  and  of 
Colombia,  Ecuador,  Peru,  and  Bohvia;  Sucre,  also  a  Vene- 
zuelan, more  like  Washington  than  Bolivar,  the  very  soul  of 
honor,  a  gallant  knight  and  an  accomplished  diplomat; San 
Martin,  the  brave  and  heroic  liberator  of  the  southern  half  of 
South  America;  Artigas,  a  man  of  sterling  cjualities;  O'Hig- 
gins,  the  great  Chilean  hero;  Tiradentes,  the  forerunner  of 
Brazilian  independence;  Morelos  and  Hidalgo  in  Mexico, 
both  Catholic  priests,  and  both  martyrs  to  the  cause  of  inde- 


A  GL.\NCE  AT  LATIN-AMERICAN  CIVILIZATION  37 

pendence;  and  hundreds  of  others  from  each  country  whose 
names  would  be  meaningless  except  to  those  well  acquainted 
witli  the  history  of  South  America. 

But,  once  free  from  colonial  bondage,  the  new  republics, 
whose  political  constitutions  in  the  main  are  based  on  that 
of  the  United  States,  had  to  deal  with  fresh  problems  arising 
from  changed  conditions.  The  new  political  entities  com- 
menced tlieir  independent  life  heavily  handicapped,  on  the 
one  hand  by  their  economic  condition  after  a  period  of  pro- 
tracted wars,  and  on  the  other  hand  by  a  scarcity  of  popula- 
tion, and — though  paradoxical,  nevertheless  true — the  fer- 
tility of  the  soil  and  extremely  favorable  climatic  conditions. 
The  unbounded  productiveness  of  Latin  America,  coupled 
with  the  modest  wants  of  the  masses,  has  been  the  main  cause 
of  the  slow  development  of  most  of  these  countries  as  manu- 
facturing centers,  their  chief  means  of  support  being  agri- 
cultural and  allied  industries,  and  mining.  The  evolution 
out  of  all  this  chaos  has  been  more  rapid  in  some  countries 
than  in  others,  due  to  special  conditions,  among  which  the 
the  principal  ones  are  in  general  terms  geographic  and  top- 
ographic position,  and  predominance  of  the  white  man. 

The  leading  classes,  owners  of  black  slaves  and  landlords 
to  the  Indian  tenantry,  lived  for  the  most  part  in  relative 
ease  after  the  war  of  independence.  Those  who  did  not  seek 
in  the  army  a  field  for  their  activities  or  incHnations,  devoted 
themselves  to  intellectual  and  scientific  pursuits,  either  in 
civil  life  or  in  the  service  of  the  church.  Some  went  abroad, 
to  France  or  Spain  preferably,  to  acquire  a  general  education 
or  to  perfect  that  received  at  home  and  to  see  the  world,  on 
their  return  bringing  new  ideas  which  were  eventually  adopt- 
ed and  more  or  less  modified  as  necessity  demanded.  With 
the  progress  of  the  nineteenth  century  Latin  America  also 
advanced. 

Intellectually,  the  I^atin-Americans  are  anything  but  the 
inferiors  of  the  Anglo-.Vmericans.  The  literature  of  Latin 
America  is  as  rich  and  \'aluable  as  that  of  any  country,  yet 
it  is  hardly  known — not  to  say  entirely  unknown— in  the 
United  States  except  by  a  handful  of  men  who  have  devoted 
their  time  to  the  study  of  the  Spanish  language.  .  It  is  only 


38  FRANCISCO  J.  YANES 

now,  during  the  last  few  years,  that  a  desire  to  know  Span- 
ish has  made  itself  felt  in  the  United  States,  and  it  is  as- 
tonishhig  to  note  the  number  of  persons  now  able  to  read 
and  understand  the  language.  On  the  other  hand,  the  study 
of  modern  languages  is  compulsory  in  all  of  the  universities 
and  colleges  of  Latin  America,  and  absolutely  necessary  to 
obtain  certain  academic  degrees.  French  was  for  a  long  time 
the  language  chosen  by  the  majority  of  the  students,  hence 
the  influence  of  French  literature  and  French  thought  in 
Latin  America.  German  was  taken  up  by  many,  more  as 
a  commercial  tongue  than  otherwise,  but  even  so  German 
literature,  particularlj^  the  works  of  Goethe,  Schiller  and 
Heine,  and  most  of  the  writers  of  today,  are  well  known  in 
Latin  America.  EngUsh  was  preferred  by  others,  rather  as 
an  accomplishment  than  as  a  language  of  immediate  practi- 
cal use,  until  now  it  has  taken,  in  many  cases,  the  place  of 
German.  These  two  languages  have  followed  the  trend  of 
trade,  but  English  is  becoming  more  useful  every  day  in 
view  of  the  increased  relations  of  Latin  America  with  the 
United  States,  in  all  spheres  of  human  activity. 

The  problem  of  education  has  always  commanded  the 
earnest  attention  of  all  the  Latin-American  governments, 
to  the  extent  of  having  made  primary  education,  in  most 
of  these  countries,  not  only  free  but  compulsory.  So  far 
as  higher  education  is  concerned — that  is,  all  grades  above 
primary — there  are  institutions,  either  public  or  private, 
or  both,  for  secondary  and  superior  education,  normal 
schools,  schools  of  mines,  agricultural  and  manual  training, 
technological  institutes,  colleges,  universities,  conserva- 
tories of  music,  academies  of  painting  and  sculpture,  national 
or  public  libraries,  museums,  etc. — in  short,  all  kinds  of 
institutions  devoted  to  the  moral  and  intellectual  uplift 
of  the  people. 

In  all  the  Latin-American  countries  there  is  a  system  of 
scholarships  which  serves  as  a  practical  means  of  promoting 
interest  in  education.  This  system  pro\ides  for  supporting 
abroad  for  a  certain  length  of  time  such  of  the  students  and 
graduates  as  have  won  honors,  who  are  sent  to  Europe 
and  in  some  cases  to  the  United  States,  to  perfect  their  edu- 


A  GLANCE  AT  LATIN-AMERICAN  CIVILIZATION  39 

cation  and  bring  home  new  methods  and  the  latest  and  most 
appro^•ed  systems.  We  frequently  hear  at  the  Pan-Ameri- 
can Union  of  Latin  Americans  who  have  come  to  the  United 
States  or  are  coming  here  to  take  a  post-graduate  course 
in  some  science  or  profession,  and  others  who  are  in  this 
country  studying  and  investigating  school  methods  and 
appliances.  At  present  there  ai-e  over  1350  such  students 
in  the  United  States. 

I  think  this  is  the  proper  occasion  to  urge  upon  Ameri- 
can scholars  and  professors  the  necessity  of  encouraging 
the  preparation  in  the  English  language  of  popular  mono- 
graphs for  school  use,  written  by  responsible  and  unprej- 
udiced men,  on  the  history  and  geography  of  the  Latin- 
American  countries.  So  far  as  I  know,  there  is  not  a  single 
well-known  school  book  in  English  giving  in  a  concise,  im- 
partial manner  the  history  of  any  one  of  the  countries  of  Latin 
America.  The  history  of  the  United  States,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  studied  in  Latin-American  colleges  and  universi- 
ties along  with  the  modern  history  of  France  and  England, 
Spain,  Italy  and  Germany.  Another  point  that  dese^^'e^ 
passing  mention  is  the  scarcity  of  good  American  books 
in  Latin  America,  in  the  Spanish  language,  due  to  their 
enormous  cost.  France,  Italy,  Germany,  and  Spain  es- 
pecially, publish  in  Spanish  hundreds  of  useful  books  on 
history,  science,  geography,  literature,  etc.,  at  prices  so  low 
that  no  one  can  give  excessive  cost  as  an  excuse  for  not 
having  what  is  termed  in  Spanish  "an  economical  library," 
that  is,  small  volumes  of  several  pages,  well  edited,  bound 
in  paper,  which  are  worth  from  20  cents  up  to  50  or  75  cents. 
An  .fVnierican  work  cannot  be  obtained  at  such  prices.  I 
can  remember  in  my  childhood  daj's  having  learned  to  re^d 
from  a  series  of  books,  edited  in  Spanish  by  a  New  York 
publishing  firm,  called  "Libros  de  Lectura  de  Mandeville" 
(JVIandeville's  Readers).  The  school  geography  was  also 
edited  in  Spanish  by  the  same  publishing  house,  if  I  am 
not  mistaken,  and  was  called  "Primer  Libro  de  Geografia 
de  Smith"  (Smith's  (Asa)  First  book  of  Geography) .  If  the 
sale  of  American  printed  books  fails  of  succes.s  in  I^tin 
America,  it  is  due  mainly  to  the  almost  prohibitive  prices. 


40  FRANCISCO  J.  YANES 

With  better  means  of  communication  and  a  desire  to  ex- 
pand their  trade  with  Latin  America,  United  States  mer- 
chants and  travelers  are  visiting  inteUigently  the  Latin- 
American  countries,  and  men  of  science  and  learning  have, 
during  the  last  few  years,  turned  their  eyes  toward  that  con- 
tinent, bringing  to  light  the  wonders  of  past  ages  buried 
by  the  sands  of  Time,  J.nd  doing  justice  to  a  civihzation  until 
then  little  known,  and  only  by  a  few.  No  better  proof 
of  the  fact  that  Latin-American  civilization  is  worthy  of 
note  could  be  had  than  the  desire  to  exchange  professors 
and  students  between  certain  universities  of  the  United 
States  and  those  of  the  leading  South  American  countries. 

Latin  Americans  have  done  much  towards  the  progress 
of  the  world  both  intellectually  and  materially.  Civili- 
zation may  be  divided  into  two  great  branches  from  which 
others  spring:  development  of  the  intellectual  forces  of 
mankind,  and  development  of  the  material  resources  for 
the  benefit  of  all.  Under  the  first  head — as  I  have  endeav- 
ored to  show  in  the  brief  review  of  Latin-American  history 
just  made — we  have  educational  institutions  to  train  and 
perfect  the  mind,  which  have  existed  in  Latin  America  for 
centuries,  and  the  result  of  this  training  has  been  great 
jurists,  historians,  orators,  physicians,  painters,  sculptors, 
poets,  musicians,  playwrights,  and  others  too  numerous  to 
mention,  as  we  are  dealing  with  twenty  countries,  but  whose 
works  might  fill  a  good  sized  library.  We  have  painters 
and  sculptors  of  renown  whose  works  have  been  admired, 
rewarded  and  commended  in  the  leading  art  centers  of  the 
world,  and  in  all  the  countries  there  are  art  schools  from 
which  the  students  go  preferably  to  Italy  or  France,  most 
frequently  pensioned  by  the  government,  to  perfect  them- 
selves and  do  honor  to  their  motherland.  We  have  musi- 
cians wedded  to  their  art  and  a  credit  to  the  country  and 
themselves;  and  composers,  singers  and  players  educated 
in  our  own  conservatories  or  schools.  We  have  theatres 
and  opera  houses  not  surpassed  by  any  others  in  America 
or  Europe,  and  the  governments  of  many,  if  not  all  of  the 
Latin-American  countries,  contribute  to  the  musical  educa- 
tion of  the  people  by  subsidizing  opera  troupes  every  season 


A  GLANCE  AT  LATIN- AMERICAN  CIVILIZATION  41 

or  SO,  paying  heavy  sums  to  obtain  the  best  singers.  Many 
a  celebrity  who  has  come  to  New  York  has  commenced  his 
career  in  Latin  -Vmerica. 

There  is  another  phase  of  Latin-.Vmerican  civiHzation 
showing  in  an  unquestionable  manner  a  natural  tendency 
towards  the  establishment  of  higher  ideals — those  ideals  that 
ai'e  today  being  proclaimed  by  men  of  good  will  of  all  nations. 
I  refer  to  arbitration,  the  recourse  to  which  is  the  highest 
form  of  culture  among  peoples.  Arbitration  is  not  new 
with  us.  It  is  one  of  the  basic  principles  of  the  foundation 
of  our  social  structure,  since  it  rests  on  the  civil  law  of  Rome, 
which  provides  for  arbitration  as  one  of  the  ordinary  and 
usual  means  of  settling  differences  between  man  and  man. 
The  principle  of  arbitration  was  first  proclaimed  on  our 
continent  by  General  Bohvar,  the  Liberator  of  South 
America — as  far-sighted  and  keen  a  statesman  as  he  was  a 
mihtary  genius.  Bolivar  was  the  originator  of  the  idea 
of  holding  the  first  Congress  of  Nations  of  America  in 
Panama  in  1826,  for  the  purpose,  anong  others,  of  adopting 
arbitration  as  a  principle  of  .\merican — that  is  to  say,  Pan- 
American — pohcy. 

In  recent  years  we  have  had  recource  to  arbitration  and 
direct  negotiations  partaking  often  of  the  nature  of  arbi- 
tration, more  frequently  than  in  all  the  rest  of  the  world. 
Our  Latin- American  wars  have  been  civil  wars  for  a  political 
principle,  and  these  mainly  in  countries  where  the  military 
element  predominates.  We  have  never  engaged  in  wars 
of  conquest.  In  our  international  difficulties,  arbitration 
has  always  been  the  keynote  of  our  negotiations.  It  is  a 
remarkable  fact  that  in  the  history  of  our  Latin-American 
republics,  since  they  became  independent  from  the  mother 
country  over  one  hundred  years  ago,  we  have  had  among  our- 
selves only  two  wars  which,  if  hiternational  in  a  sense,  could 
be  classed  as  national,  since  they  were  fought  among  mem- 
bers of  our  own  family  of  republics.  But  these  wars  were  not 
fought  for  territorial  expansion  nor  in  the  spirit  of  conquest, 
although  territory  may  have  been  gained  as  an  indemnity. 
I  refer  to  the  Paraguayan  war  against  Brazil,  Uruguay  and 
.Argentina,  and  the  war  of  Chile  and  Bolivia  against  Peru. 


42  FRANCISCO  J.  YANES 

On  the  other  hand,  who,  looking  at  the  map  of  Europe  to- 
day, would  recognize  it  as  the  same  Europe  of  half  a  cen- 
tury ago?  With  one  or  two  exceptions, — the  Iberian  and 
the  Scandinavian  peninsulas  and  the  British-  Isles — there 
is  not  a  single  country  that  has  not  been  remade  at  the  cost 
of  numberless  lives  and  enormous  bloodshed. 

All  our  boundary  disputes — and  they  hsLve  been  many — 
have  been  or  are  being  settled  by  arbitration.  Now,  could 
any  better  proof  be  offered  of  the  advancement  of  peoples 
who,  while  springing  directly  from  a  race  of  warriors,  do  not 
fear  to  work  towards  the  ends  of  peace? 

Another  proof  of  this  spirit  of  progress  is  the  maintenance 
in  the  city  of  Washington,  by  all  the  countries  of  our  Ameri- 
can hemisphere,  of  a  unique  organization  called  the  Pan- 
American  Union,  the  living  embodiment  of  the  idea  which 
created  the  International  Union  of  American  Republics  as 
a  result  of  the  first  Pan-American  Conference  held  in  Wash- 
ington over  twenty  years  ago  at  the  invitation  of  that  great 
American  statesman,  James  G.  Blaine.  The  Pan-American 
Union  represents  the  spirit  of  progress,  the  desire  for  a  better 
understanding,  the  necessity  for  stronger  ties  of  friendship, 
felt  among  the  republics  of  the  three  Americas,  by  making 
them  known  to  one  another,  by  bringing  to  the  attention 
of  the  American  people  the  opportunities  offered  by  the 
Latin-American  countries,  their  civilization,  their  onward 
march  towards  prosperity,  united  in  a  single  purpose  of 
material  and  moral  advancement. 

There  is  another  aspect  of  Latin- American  civilization 
which  deserves  more  than  passing  attention.  It  is  their 
political  life  as  members  of  the  Pan-American  fraternity 
of  independent  nations.  Their  first  step  towards  higher 
ideals  was  their  declaration  of  independence  and  their 
assuming  the  duties  and  exercising  the  rights  of  sovereign 
states.  The  transition  from  colonial  dependencies  to  self- 
go\'erning  nations  was  fraught  with  difficulties  unknown 
to  the  citizens  of  the  original  thirteen  states  of  the  North 
American  Union,  resulting  from  different  conditions,  due  in 
the  main  to  the  spirit  that  inspired  their  complete  emancipa- 
tion.    The  original  thirteen  states  separated  from  England 


A  GLANCE  AT  LATIN-AMERICAN  CIVILIZATION  43 

principall}'  for  practical  reasons,  while  the  Spanish  Ameri- 
can countries  had  to  contend  with  an  economic  as  well  as  a 
political  problem. 

After  a  period  of  evolution — or,  if  you  prefer  it,  revolu- 
tions— during  which  the  several  antagonistic  interests  were 
undergoing  a  process  of  amalgamation,  or  better  still,  clarifi- 
cation, there  now  exists,  in  the  majority  of  Latin- American 
countries,  stable  governments  whose  sole  aim  is  to  main- 
tain above  reproach  the  moral  as  well  as  the  economic  credit 
of  their  respective  nations,  so  as  to  attract  foreign  capital 
and  energy,  which  will  stimulate  the  development  of  home 
industries,  and  insure  peace,  prosperity  and  happiness  to 
its  citizens.  Some  Latin-.\merican  countries  have  been 
less  fortunate,  but  every  disturbance,  every  civil  strife,  has 
been  a  misdirected  effort  towards  the  attainment  of  a  goal 
dreamed  of  by  all  and  by  all  desired.  Public  education, 
foreign  commerce,  improved  means  of  communication, 
greater  de\'eIopment  of  the  natural  wealth  of  those  countries 
are  factors  which  have  contributed  and  are  constantly  con- 
tributing to  the  establishment  of  a  peaceful  era  which  will 
eventually  become  normal  and  stable. 

As  to  the  material  phase  of  Latin- American  civilization, 
all  I  have  to  say  is  that  communication  with  the  other 
countries  of  the  world  is  represented  by  over  fifty  steamship 
lines  plying  between  European  ports  and  those  of  Latin  Amer- 
ica, and  about  twenty-five  lines  running  from  the  United 
States  to  the  Atlantic,  Caribbean  and  west  coast  ports  of 
Latin  America.  The  combined  railway  mileage  from  !Mex- 
ico  down  to  Chile  and  Argentina,  including  the  island  coun- 
tries of  Cuba,  Haiti  and  the  Dominican  Kepublic,  is  esti- 
mated at  65,330  miles,  Argentina  leading  with  over  20,300 
miles;  next  comes  Mexico  with  over  16,000  miles;  Brazil 
follows  with  about  14,000  miles;  Chile,  over  5,000;  Cuba, 
nearly  2,200,  and  the  other  republics  in  lesser  proportion. 
There  is  not  one  single  country,  however,  that  is  not  included 
in  this  total  mileiige.  It  may  seem  strange  that  in  an  area 
of  about  9,000,000  square  miles  there  should  be  only  65,000 
miles  of  railway,  but  if  you  stop  a  moment  to  consider  the 
enormous  barrier  extending  along  the  west  coast  .of  South 


44  FRANCISCO  J.  YANES 

America,  formed  by  the  mighty  range  of  mountains  which 
is  but  a  continuation  through  Mexico,  Central  and  western 
South  America  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  the  scarcity 
of  population  which  creates  demands  and  makes  traffic 
profitable,  you  will  undertand  why  the  railways  of  Latin 
America  have  not  advanced  faster.  But  even  under  these 
circumstances,  not  a  day  passes  but  some  work  is  done 
towards  the  extension  of  that  railway  mileage. 

Another  phase  of  civilization  and  progress  is  the  foreign 
commerce  of  a  country.  Latin  America  in  this  respect  has 
a  good  record,  and  the  figures  representing  its  foreign  trade 
in  1912  are,  in  round  numbers,  as  follows:  total  Latin- 
American  commerce,  32,811,000,000,  the  exports  being 
represented  by  $1,571,000,000  and  the  imports  by  $1,240,- 
000,000.  The  total  trade  with  the  United  States  amounted 
to  about  $825,832,000,  of  which  $519,025,000  was  exports 
and  $306,807,000  imports.  The  progress  made  by  Lntin 
America  in  its  commercial  relations  with  the  world  at 
large  and  the  United  States  especially  shows  that  there  is  a 
great  consumption  of  all  such  articles  as  are  considered 
necessary  to  civilization.  Latin  America  is  not  a  manu- 
facturing continent;  it  mainly  produces  for  export  agri- 
cultural products  such  as  sugar,  coffee,  rubber,  tobacco, 
cacao  or  cocoa,  cotton, "etc.,  hides  and  other  raw  materials, 
mining  products  such  as  silver,  gold,  tin,  copper,  iron,  bis- 
muth, saltpeter,  etc.,  and  a  few  gems.  Its  main  imports 
are  machinery  of  all  kinds,  hardware,  cotton  and  other 
fabrics,  foodstuffs,  carriages  and  automobiles,  railway  ma- 
terial, electrical  appUances,  and  other  similar  products  of 
industry  necessary  to  the  cultivation  of  the  land,  the  im- 
provement of  roads  and  cities,  and  the  comfort  of  the  in- 
habitants. There  is  not  a  city  of  any  importance  in  Latin- 
America  where  either  artificial  illuminating  gas  or  electric 
light  is  unknown.  Telegraph  and  telephone  wires  stretch  all 
over  Latin  America,  uniting  cities  and  towns,  over  the  wilds 
and  across  the  mountains,  bridging  powerful  rivers,  con- 
connecting  neighboring  countries  and  linking  our  shores 
with  the  rest  of  the  civihzed  world.  Not  an  event  of  any 
importance  takes  place  in  Europe,  Asia,  or  .\frica,  or  the 


A  GLANCE  AT  LATIN-AMERICAN  CIVILIZATION  45 

United  States  which  the  submarine  cable  does  not  bring 
to  the  Latin-.Vmerican  press,  to  be  made  piibHc  either  in  the 
form  of  bulletins  or  in  "extras,"  according  to  the  importance 
of  the  event,  while  nearly  every  Latin-American  country 
has  its  wireless  telegraph  system.  Electric  cars  are  fast 
replacing  the  older  and  slower  methods  of  transportation 
within  the  cities  and  extending  their  usefulness  to  carrying 
passengers  to  suburban  villas,  small  towns  or  country  places 
of  amusement,  and  Buenos  Aires,  the  largest  Latin-Ameri- 
can capital,  has  a  subway  in  operation. 

In  conclusion,  I  may  say  that  a  charge  frequently  made 
against  us  Latin-Americans,  and  in  a  sense  true,  is  that  we 
are  a  race  of  dreamers.  Perhaps  it  is  so.  We  inherited 
from  our  forefathers  the  love  of  the  beautiful  and  the  grand; 
the  facility  for  expression  and  the  vivid  imagination  of  our 
race;  from  them  we  inherited  the  sonorous,  majestic  Spanish, 
the  flexible,  musical  Portuguese,  and  the  French,  language 
of  art,  and  a  responsive  chord  to  all  that  thrills,  be  it  color, 
harmony,  or  mental  imagery;  we  inherited  their  varying 
moods,  their  noble  traits  and  their  shortcomings,  both  of 
which  we  have  preserved,  and  in  certain  cases  improved, 
under  the  influence  of  our  environment,  our  majestic  moun- 
tains, our  primeval  forests,  the  ever  blooming  tropical 
flowers,  the  birds  of  sweetest  wild  songs  and  wonderful 
plumage;  under  magnificent  skies  and  the  inspiration  taken 
from  other  poets  and  writers,  be  they  foreign  or  native, 
who  have  gone  through  life  like  the  minstrels  of  old  with  a 
song  on  their  lips  and  an  unsatisfied  yearning  in  their  hearts. 

!Much  more  might  be  said  to  show  the  constant  endeavor 
of  Latin  America  to  cooperate  with  its  best  efforts  to  the 
civilization  of  the  world.  It  has  contributed  readily  ac- 
cording to  its  Latin  standards,  and  from  the  day  of  its  inde- 
pendence and  the  establishment  of  republican  institutions, 
Latin  America  has  recognized  the  rights  of  man,  abolished 
slavery,  fostered  education,  developed  its  commerce  and 
increased  traveling  facilities  and  meiins  of  conununication 
with  the  outer  world.  It  has  contributed  to  the  best  of  its 
ability  to  the  sum  total  of  human  betterment,  and  the 
day  cannot  be  far  off  when  full  justice  will  be  done  to  the 


46  FRANCISCO  J.  YANES 

t 

efforts  of  the  countries  south  of  the  United  States,  where 
live  a  people  inteIHgent,  progressive,  proud  of  their  history 
and  their  own  efforts,  and  ready  to  extend  a  friendly  hand 
and  a  sincere  welcome  to  those  who  are  willing  to  under- 
stand them,  and  aid  them  on  their  road  to  progress. 

The  interest  shown  by  the  leading  universities  and  edu- 
cational institutions  of  the  United  States  in  fostering  bet- 
ter acquaintance  with  intellectual  Latin  America,  in  giving 
special  courses  in  the  history  of  those  nations,  in  endeavoring 
to  establish  with  them  an  exchange  of  professors  and  stu- 
dents, deserves  the  sincere  appreciation  of  every  Latin 
American,  and  as  a  Latin-.\merican  myself,  I  desire  to 
express  here  my  deep  gratitude.  To  Clark  University, 
in  particular,  and  its  executive  officers,  I  wish  to  extend  my 
most  cordial  congratulations  for  the  friendly — I  may  say 
fraternal — thought  of  dedicating  this  conference  to  the  dis- 
cussion of  Latin-American  topics.  It  is  indeed  a  noble 
thought.  I  also  wish  to  thank  the  executive  officers  of 
Clark  University  for  their  courtesy  in  allowing  me  to  pre- 
sent before  you  the  views  of  a  Latin- American  as  to  what 
we  are  and  what  we  have  done  towards  the  general  prog- 
ress of  the  world. 


THE  MEXICAN  SITUATION  FROM  A  MEXICAN 

rOINT  OF  VIEW 

By  Lie.  Luis  Cabrera,  recently  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives in  the  Mexican  Congress 

Much  has  been  said  in  the  United  States  about  the  Mexi- 
can situation,  but  actual  conditions  in  Mexico  have  never 
been  fully  understood,  because  they  have  always  been 
studied  from  an  American  point  of  view. 

The  sources  from  which  Americans  draw  their  information 
about  Mexico  are  chiefly  foreign  residents  and  investors, 
who  are  very  apt  to  consider  the  Mexican  situation  only 
from  the  standpoint  of  their  own  interests.  All  that  for- 
eigners seek  in  ^^lexico  is  the  reestablishment  of  a  state  of 
things  favoring  the  continuation  and  promotion  of  business. 
They  generally  believe  that  the  conditions  of  Mexicans 
themselves,  and  of  those  issues  which  are  of  a  purely  na- 
tional character,  do  not  concern  them,  and  consequently 
the}'  do  not  regard  them  as  necessar}^  factors  in  the  problem, 
such  as  they  understand  it.  Hence,  the  proposing  of  solu- 
tions which,  although  beneficial  perhaps  to  foreign  interests, 
do  not  tend  to  solve  the  Mexican  problem  itself. 

To  fully  understand  the  ^Mexican  situation  and  to  find 
satisfactory  solutions  both  to  ^Mexican  and  foreign  interests, 
it  is  necessary  to  study  the  question  from  a  Mexican  point 
of  view. 

Such  is  the  purpose  of  this  paper. 

Foreigners  in  Mexico  believe  that  the  only  political  prob- 
lem which  interests  them  is  peace.  But  misled  by 
superficial  judgment  or  pushed  by  impatience,  they  ha\'e 
believed  that  the  establishment  of  peace  in  Mexico  depends 
only  on  the  energy  with  which  the  country  is  governed. 

47 


48  Lie.    LUIS  CABRERA 

All  foreigners  in  Mexico  look  for  a  strong  government,  an 
iron  hand  or  iron  fist,  and  the  only  thing  they  discuss  is 
whether  a  certain  man  is  sufficiently  strong  or  energetic 
to  govern  the  country.  And/when  they  find  a  man  with 
such  qualities,  foreigners  always  have  believed  that  it  was 
their  duty  to  help  that  man  to  come  into  power  and  to  sup- 
port him. 

These  were  the  reasons  for  the  foreign  s}Tnpathy  in  favor 
of  General  Reyes  first,  General  F61ix  Diaz  afterwards,  and 
General  Huerta,  and  these  are  the  reasons  why  President 
Madero  did  not  get  the  full  support  of  foreigners.  He  was 
considered  a  weak  man,  and  consequently  unable  to  establish 
peace. 

It  is  necessary  to  rectify  foreign  opinion  about  strong 
governments  in  Mexico. 

A  strong  government  is  not  the  one  able  to  maintain  peace 
by  the  mere  force  of  arms,  but  the  one  which  can  obtain  the 
support  of  the  majority  of  the  country.  Any  peace  obtained 
by  the  system  of  the  iron  fist  is  only  a  temporary  peace. 
Permanent  peace  in  Mexico  must  be  based  on  certain  eco- 
nomic, political  and  social  conditions  which  would  produce 
a  stable  equilibrium  between  the  higher  and  the  lower 
classes  of  the  nation. 

Foreigners  ought  to  be  persuaded  that  to  have  real 
guarantees  for  their  interests  it  is  necessary  that  such  in- 
terests be  based  on  the  welfare  of  the  people  of  Mexico. 

It  is  then  to  the  interest  of  foreign  capitalists  to  help 
Mexicans  to  obtain  such  conditions  as  will  produce  perma- 
nent peace  in  Mexico. 

The  troubles  in  Mexico  during  the  last  three  years  are 
attributable  to  maladministration  covering  a  period  of 
thirty  years.  The  internal  upheaval  in  Mexico  could  not 
have  grown  to  the  importance  that  it  has  reached,  had 
it  only  had  the  object  of  satisfying  personal  ambitions. 
The  revolution  in  Mexico  could  not  be  so  strong  as  it  is, 
were  robbery  the  only  purpose  of  the  soldiers  or  was  personal 
ambition  the  only  motive  of  the  leaders. 

The  truth  is  that  the  Mexican  disturbances  are  a  real 
revolution  of  apparently  political  aspect,  but  at  the  very 


A    MEXICAN    POINT   OF   VIEW  40 

bottom  of  economic  and  social  tendencies.  The  present 
revolution  in  JVIexico  is  only  the  continuation  of  a  revolution 
begim  in  1910. 

The  present  revolution's  main  purposes  are  to  free  the 
lower  classes  from  the  condition  of  slavery  in  which  they 
have  been  for  a  long  time  and  to  seek  for  an  improvement 
in  their  economic  and  social  conditions. 

In  Mexico  there  is  no  real  middle  class.  The  purpose 
of  the  present  revolution  is  the  creation  of  such  a  class  which 
may  help  the  country  to  have  a  social  equilibrium.  There 
is  no  real  social  equilibrium  and  there  is  no  peace,  and  there 
is  no  democratic  form  of  government  without  a  middle 
class. 

The  causes  of  the  Mexican  revolution  and  its  aims,  are 
of  a  social,  economic  and  pohtical  character.  Consequently 
the  Mexican  question  presents  three  different  aspects,  inti- 
mately related  to  each  other,  that  can  be  called  the  social, 
economic  and  political  aspects  of  the  Mexican  question. 

Social   Aspect 

Mexico  has  a  population  of  about  15,000,000  inhabitants, 
15  per  cent  of  which  are  Indians,  75  per  cent  mixed  or  "mes- 
tizos" and  10  per  cent  of  European  descent.  Each  one  of 
these  groups  presents  different  characteristics  and  even  the 
"mestizos"  cannot  be  said  to  be  homogeneous,  since  there 
are  various  racial  types  among  them. 

Mexico,  however,  has  no  real  race  problem.  Properly 
speaking,  there  are  no  insoluble  conflicts  between  the  vari- 
ous elements  of  the  nation,  because  the  Indians  are  easily 
assimilated  by  the  "mestizos,"  and  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
when  the  Indians  receive  education  or  mix  with  the  "mes- 
tizos," they  immediately  become  identified  with  them. 
A  full  blooded  Indian  who  has  received  a  cortiiin  amount 
of  education,  is  always  sure  to  keep  it,  and  he  never  shows 
any  retrogressive  tendencies,  so  that  we  can  say  that  the 
effects  of  education  upon  the  native  Indians  of  Mexico  are  of 
a  permanent  character. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  mestizo  element  of  the  population 
of   Mexico    intermarry   very   ea.sily   with   the    Europeans, 


50  Lie.   LITIS   CABRERA 

particularly  with  the  Spaniards  and  French,  and  as  soon 
as  they  ha\'e  received  a  proper  education  or  have  acquired 
some  economic  welfare,  they  can  be  considered  on  prac- 
tically the  same  level  as  any  of  the  European  residents. 

But  true  as  it  is  that  this  variety  of  races  cannot  be  re- 
garded as  a  social  problem  for  Mexico,  the  large  diversity 
of  types  of  civilization  found  among  those  races,  on  the 
other  hand,  do  give  rise  to  grave  difficulties,  from  the  point 
of  view  of  the  government  of  the  country. 

The  problem  that  every  administration  has  to  face  in 
Mexico,  that  is  to  say,  the  social  problem  in  its  broadest 
sense,  is  to  find  a  rule  or  a  formula  of  government  which 
shall  be  suitable  to  all  the  dissimilar  elements  of  the 
population,  or  to  find  the  various  co-existing  formulae  of  gov- 
ernment suitable  to  each  one  of  the  various  groups  of  popula- 
tion. It  is  very  difficult  indeed  to  find  a  formula  of  govern- 
ment suitable  at  the  same  time  to  a  fifteenth  century  type 
of  civiHzation  (Indians);  to  an  eighteenth  century  type 
(largest  part  of  the  mixed  races);  to  a  nineteenth  century 
type  of  civilization  (educated  mestizos)  and  to  a  twentieth 
century  type  (foreigners  and  Mexicans  of  high  culture). 

The  systems  used  up  to  the  present  to  govern  these  dis- 
similar groups  have  failed,  that  of  General  Diaz  pretending 
to  rule  the  country  with  sixteenth  century  proceedings,  as 
well  as  that  of  Madero  pretending  to  rule  on  a  nineteenth 
century  system.  This  social  problem  is  intunately  related 
to  the  political  problem  of  the  unfitness  of  the  laws  of  Mexico. 

The  political  problem  of  ruling  over  the  different  races 
in  Mexico  could  have  more  or  less  adequate  solutions,  but 
the  social  problem  has  but  one  solution,  namely:  education. 

Fortunately,  the  characteristics  of  the  Indian  and  mixed 
races,  and  their  facility  to  assimilate  into  the  white  race, 
give  sufficient  grounds  to  believe  that  the  problem  can  easily 
be  solved  simply  by  means  of  an  educational  policy  wisely 
matured  and  persistently  applied. 

It  can  be  safely  said  that  in  fifty  years  from  now,  if  the 
education  of  the  Indians  is  kept  up,  all  local  dialects  will  die 
away  and  the  whole  Indian  population  will  be  assimilated 
by  the  mLxed  race. 


a  mexican  point  of  view  51 

Economic  Aspect 

The  principal  causes  of  the  revolution  in  Mexico  are 
undoubtedly  of  an  economic,  and  chiefly  of  an  agrarian 
character. 

The  colonial  policies  followed  by  Spaniards,  when  they 
conquered  jMexico,  consisted  in  taking  possession  of  the 
greatest  part  of  the  lands  of  New  Spain  to  grant  them  to 
the  Spanish  conquerors.  Extensive  land  concessions  were 
granted  now-iii  favor  of  the  church,  now  in  favor  of  the  Span- 
ish soldiers,  leaders,  chieftains,  or  mere  settlers.     ^ 

Together  with  each  one  of  those  large  concessions  granted 
in  favor  of  Spaniards,  a  large  number  of  Indians  were  also 
assigned  to  them  with  the  apparent  object  of  educating 
and  Christianizing  them,  but  with  the  real  purpose  of  ob- 
taining slaves,  or  land  serfs,  to  cultivate  and  develop  the 
lands  granted. 

With  regard  to  the  Indian  townte  already  existing  at  the 
tune  of  the  conquest,  they 'were  theoretically  respected 
together  with  their  lands.  New  towns  were  also  laid  out 
as  Indian  reservations,  providing  them  with  sufficient  lands 
which  were  called  ''egidos"  and  "propios,"  for  the  common 
use  of  all  the  inhabitants. 

The  colonial  policies  of  Spain  resulted  therefore  in  the 
formation  of  a  wealthy  class  of  landholders  as  against  the 
Indian  population,  which  found  itself  either v  a.ssigned  to 
the  estates  as  land  serfs  or  concentrated  in  Indian  towns. 

In  1810  the  freedom  of  slaves  and  Indians  was  officially 
decreed  by  Hidalgo,  but  the  independence  of  Mexico  hav- 
ing been  accomplished  by  the  wealthy  landholders,  the 
situation  of  the  Indians  was  not  materially  changed,  and 
the  lower  classes  still  rcn^ined  in  a  state  of  actual  serv- 
itude, although,  theopetically,  slavery  had  been  already 
abolished.  ^y' 

We  can  safely  say  that  up  to  1856  the  only  real-estate 
property  of  any  importance,  which  was  not  in  the  hands  of 
the  Spanish  great  landholders,  was  the  property  of  the  church 
and  the  "commons''  of  the  Indian  towns. 

The  church  had  been  acquiring  large  territorial  property 


52  Lie.    LUIS  CABRERA 

obtained  either  by  direct  concessions  from  the  Govern- 
ment or  by  donations  and  foundations  from  private  sources. 

The  towns  still  were  owning  their  communal  lands 
granted  to  them,  as  stated  above,  for  the  purpose  of  graz- 
ing, timbering,  farming  and  watering,  and  which  were  called 
"egidos."  The  characteristic  aspect  of  the  agrarian  ques- 
tions in  ]\Iexico  was  for  nearly  two  centuries,  the  obstinate 
defense  made  by  the  towns  against  the  great  landholders 
who  alwa3's  tried  to  invade  the  communal  lands. 

From  1856  to  1859  certain  laws  were  enacted  in  order  to 
do  away  with  the  mainmort.  About  the  middle  of  1859, 
the  liberal  administration  of  Juarez,  for  pohtical  reasons, 
was  compelled  to  deprive  the  church  of  its  properties  and 
to  begin  to  appropriate  them  to  private  individuals,  who 
wished  to  acquire  them  at  low  prices. 

Towards  1859  also,  and  as  a  consequence  of  the  laws 
enacted  to  do  away  with  the  mainmort,  the  "egidos"  of 
the  towns  began  to  be  di\aded  up  and  apportioned  in  small 
parcels  among  the  inhabitants,  for  the  purpose  of  creating 
small  agricultural  properties,  but  through  ignorance  and 
lack  of  means,  those  lands  were  almost  immediately  resold 
to  the  great  landholders  whose  properties  were  adjacent 
to  the  "egidos." 

About  1876,  at  the  beginning  of  the  "porfirista"  regime, 
(the  administration  of  General  Porfirio  Diaz)  the  real  prop- 
erty of  the  church  had  already  passed  into  the  hands  of 
private  individuals,  and  the  communal  property  of  the 
towns  was  beginning  to  be  divided  among  the  masses. 

There  still  remain,  however,  large  estates  owned  by  old 
wealthy  families  of  Spanish  origin,  which  could  be  considered 
as  real  mainmort,  and  which  are  now  responsible  for  the  pres- 
ent agrarian  conflict. 

The  "porfirista"  regime  can  be  defined  by  saying  that  it 
consisted  in  putting  the  power  in  the  hands  of  the  large  land- 
holders, thus  creating  a  feudal  system. 

The  local  governments  of  the  different  states  in  Mexico 
and  nearly  all  the  important  pubhc  offices,  were  almost 
always  in  the  hands  of,  or  controlled  by,  wealth}'-  families 
owning  large  tracts  of  land,  which  of  course  were  inclined  to 


A   MEXICAN   POINT   OF   VIEW  53 

extend  protection  to  all  properties  such  as  theirs.  Torres 
and  Izabal  in  Sonora,  Terrazas  in  Chihuahua,  Garza  Galdn 
in  Coahuila,  Redo  in  Sinaloa,  Obregons  in  Guanajuato,  the 
Escandons  in  Morelos,  etc.,  are  instances  of  great  landhold- 
ers who  always  had  an  absolute  control  over  the  government 
of  their  respective  states. 

The  political,  social  and  economic  influence  exerted  by 
landholders  during  General  Diaz's  administration,  was  so 
considerable  and  so  advantageous  to  them,  that  it  hampered 
the  development  of  the  small  agricultural  property,  which 
could  have  otherwise  been  formed  from  the  division  of 
ecclesiastical  and  communal  lands. 

The  large  estates  called  haciendas,  pay  only  about  10 
per  cent  of  the  taxes  levied  by  law  as  result  of  misrepre- 
senting the  value  of  the  property,  while  the  small  landholder 
is  obliged  to  pay  the  whole  tax  imposed  as  he  is  unable  to 
successfully  misrepresent  the  value  of  his  small  holdings 
and  as  he  lacks  the  political  influence  to  obtain  reductions. 

The  result  of  this  system  of  inequitable  taxation  has  been 
the  gradual  disappearance  of  small  holdings  which  were 
absorbed  by  the  large  estates.  This  system  was  continued 
all  tlirough  General  Diaz's  administration,  thus  increasing 
the  power  of  the  great  landholders,  and  accentuating  the 
contrast  between  the  higher  and  the  lower  classes. 

The  commual  lands  or  ''egidos,"  used  to  be  a  means  to 
ease  to  a  certain  extent  the  conditions  in  which  the  small 
agriculturalists  found  themselves,  by  affording  them  the 
opportunity  of  increasing  their  income  out  of  what  they 
could  get  from  the  use  of  the  "commons." 

But  the  condition  of  actual  servitude  in  which  the  peon 

had  always  been,  was  accentuated  and  aggravated  when 

the  "egidos"  disixppeared,  because,  on  the  one  hand,  he  was 

(!'•'"•  in  a  position  to  resort  to  the  products  of  those  com- 

inds,  and  on  the  other  hand  the  great  influence  of  the 

ders  was  used  as  a  political  means  to  make  peons 

a  the  haciendas  and  keep  them  in  an  actual  state  of 

'    •'^rv. 

largest  part  of  the  inhabitants  of  towns  where  "egidos" 
!i  ivo   disappeared,   being  necc^siirily  comj)elled  to  live  on 


54  Lie.    LUIS   CABRERA 

the  wages  they  get  from  working  on  the  farms,  and  these 
wages  bemg  not  enough  to  cover  their  expenses,  it  has  be- 
come a  common  practice  to  advance  money  to  the  peons  as 
a  loan  on  account  of  future  wages. 

This  system  of  lending  the  peons  small  amounts  of  money 
has  resulted  in  accumulating  huge  debts  on  their  shoulders. 
These  debts  were  used  as  a  pretext  to  keep  the  peons  al- 
ways at  the  service  of  the  landowners,  and  the  peon  him- 
self has  been  under  the  impression  that  he  was  legally  bound 
to  remain  on  the  farm  as  long  as  he  had  not  paid  up  his 
debts.  These  debts,  as  a  rule,  were  transferred  from  father 
to  son,  thus  creating  in  the  rural  population  of  the  farm  not 
only  an  actual  condition  of  slavery,  but  the  moral  convic- 
tion among  the  peons  themselves,  that  peonage  was  a  neces- 
sary^ evil  which  the  laws  authorized. 

This  belief  persisted  through  the  ignorance  of  the  peons 
themselves,  and  through  the  fact  that  the  clergy  has  mor- 
ally contributed  to  keep  up  the  system. 

During  the  first  fifteen  years  of  the  administration  of 
General  Diaz,  and  when  he  was  still  strong  enough  to  main- 
tain his  dictatorial  rule,  there  was  no  apparent  dissatisfaction 
among  the  rural  classes,  but  later  it  became  necessary  to 
use  drastic  measures  to  keep  the  peons  on  the  farms. 

The  large  number  of  men  who  were  deported  from  the 
more  thickly  populated  regions,  such  as  Mexico,  Puebla, 
Toluca,  etc.,  to  the  southern  states,  as  well  as  the  transpor- 
tation by  force  of  a  large  number  of  Yaqui  Indian  families 
from  the  state  of  Sonora  to  work  as  peons  in  Yucatan,  are 
good  examples  of  the  use  of  public  force  to  provide  laborers 
for  the  "hacienda"  and  to  maintain  the  condition  of  servi- 
tude of  the  rural  classes  in  Mexico. 

Since  1880  conditions  in  Mexico  began  to  be  comphcated 
by  reason  of  the  policies  of  General  Porfirio  Diaz  for  the 
development  of  the  country.  General  Diaz  thought  that 
the  best  way  to  develop  the  resources  of  IVIexico  was  to 
favor  the  establishment  of  large  business  enterprises  and  the 
formation  of  large  corporations  to  which  special  advantages 
were  offered. 

General  Porfirio  Diaz  granted  large  concessions  in  lands. 


A    MEXICAN    POINT   OF   VIEW  55 

mines,  railroads,  industrial  and  banking;  institutions  to 
foreign  investors,  thus  creating  enormous  monopolies  and 
making  more  accentuated  the  contrast  between  the  rich 
and  the  laboring  classes  of  the  nation.  The  cost  of  living 
was  raised  by  the  increasing  of  capital.  The  wages  of 
miners,  railroad  men  and  those  of  the  industrial  classes 
were  somewhat  increased,  although  not  in  proportion  to 
the  increased  high  cost  of  living.  The  wages  of  the  rural 
laborer  did  not  enjoy  this  increase,  the  salary  of  the  peon 
still  remaining  at  a  ridiculously  low  average.  Notwith- 
standing the  low  rate  of  agricultural  wages,  the  great  land 
owners  were  still  able  to  obtain  labor  thanks  to  their  political 
influence  which  allowed  them  to  keep  the  peons  anyhow. 

During  General  Diaz's  administration,  therefore,  efforts 
were  never  made  for  the  formation  of  a  middle  class.  On 
the  contrary,  the  power  of  the  wealthy  classes  increased 
considerably,  and  a  new  privileged  class  arose  from  the 
great  railroad,  mining,  banking  and  industrial  concession- 
aires. The  condition  of  the  lower  classes,  on  the  other 
hand,  was  excessively  precarious,  and  lately  it  became  so 
grave,  that  during  the  last  da^'S  of  General  Diaz's  regime 
it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  slavery  of  the  peons  was  the  prin- 
cipal cause  of  the  unrest  spreading  throughout  the  country, 
and  General  Diaz  had  to  resort  very  frequently  to  the  use 
of  force  to  maintain  peace. 

Political  Aspect 

The  economic  unrest  felt  in  Mexico  during  the  last  years 
of  General  Diaz's  administration,  had  for  its  principal 
causes  those  which  have  already  been  enumerated,  but  this 
economic  unrest  was  aggravated  by  political  conditions. 

The  political  problem  is  very  complex,  but  it  can  be  out- 
lined or  summed  up  as  follows. 

No  constitutional  system,  properly  speaking,  can  be  said 
to  have  existed  in  Mexico  prior  to  1857.  Towards  1857  the 
Constitution  was  adopted,  but  it  was  patterned  largely  on 
the  French  and  American  Constitutions,  without  taking 
into  consideration  the  special  conditions  of  Mexico. 

The  Constitution  adopted  in  1857  has  been  theoretically 


56  Lie.    LUIS   CABRERA 

in  force  ever  since,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  it  has  never  been 
applied  on  account  of  the  Reform  War,  the  French  inter- 
vention, and  the  very  abnormal  conditions  in  which  the 
country  found  itself  during  the  administration  of  Juarez 
and  Lerdo. 

General  Diaz  entirely  abandoned  the  Constitution  of 
1857  to  follow  a  dictatorial  regime. 

In  its  political  provisions  the  Constitution  was  never 
applied  during  General  Diaz's  administration.  Elections 
of  governors,  local  legislatures,  congress,  supreme  court, 
etc.,  never  took  place,  General  Diaz  himself  making  all  the 
appointments. 

Mexicans  never  had,  therefore,  the  opportunity  to  test 
their  Constitution,  nor  to  see  how  it  worked,  and  to  find 
out  whether  it  was  suitable  for  the  conditions  of  the  country 
or  not. 

As  regards  justice,  liberties  and  constitutional  guarantees, 
the  Constitution  was  never  enforced  for  Mexicans,  except 
in  the  cases  where  General  Diaz  thought  it  convenient. 
Only  the  wealthier  classes  could  enjoy  those  liberties,  they 
having  sufficient  influence  to  exact  them  from  the  President 
or  from  the  supreme  court. 

Foreigners,  also,  by  reason  of  their  influence  or  through 
diplomatic  pressure,  have  always  been  granted  those  liber- 
ties and  guarantees  recognized  by  the  Constitution.  These 
discretional  and  unequal  applications  of  the  Constitution  as 
regards  individual  guarantees,  largely  contributed  to  ac- 
centuate the  diff"erence  already  existing  between  the  pri\d- 
leged  classes  and  the  masses. 

The  Constitution  of  1857  undoubtedly  presents  a  great 
number  of  points  which  make  it  absolutely  unfit  for  the 
country. 

The  lack  of  municipal  government,  the  unreasonable  and 
arbitrary  division  of  the  country  mto  so  many  states,  the 
system  of  election  of  judges,  the  universal  sufi"rage  and 
even  the  system  adopted  for  the  substitution  of  the  chief 
executive,  and  many  other  inadequate  provisions,  lead  to 
the  necessity  of  a  general  and  fundamental  re^'ision  of  the 
Mexican  Constitution. 


A   MEXICAN   POINT   OF   VIEW  57 

The  administration  of  General  Diaz  can  then  be  summed 
up  by  saying  tfiat  it  was  a  dictatorial  regime  with  exceptions 
in  favor  of  the  ivealthy  classes  and  foreigners.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  these  exceptions  were  practically  privileges,  since 
90  per  cent  of  the  population  of  the  country  did  not  enjoy 
either  justice,  or  liberties,  or  guarantees. 

From  the  political  point  of  view,  the  administration  of 
General  Diaz,  produced  the  same  results  as  was  produced 
from  an  economic  point  of  view.  It  deepened  the  division 
already  existing  between  the  higher  and  the  lower  classes. 

Any  party  wishing  to  establish  peace  in  Mexico  must 
take  in  consideration  these  three  aspects  of  the  INIexican 
situation.  The  Constitutionalist  party  wishes  to  solve  the 
social  problem  of  Mexico  by  fostering  education  so  as  to 
level  the  barriers  between  the  upper  and  lower  classes,  as 
soon  as  possible.  The  Constitutionalist  party  wishes  to 
improve  the  condition  of  the  lower  classes,  so  as  to  begin 
the  creation  of  a  middle  class.  In  political  matters  the 
Constitutionalist  party  wishes  the  government  of  Mexico 
to  abide  by  the  Constitution,  but  at  the  same  time  wishes 
it  to  be  so  reformed  as  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  country. 

Since  1895  there  has  been  a  feeling  of  unrest  in  ^Mexico 
which  made  itself  more  apparent  during  the  last  years  of 
General  Diaz's  government.  This  feeling  of  restlessness 
was  not  well  defined,  and  even  when  it  led  to  several  armed 
movements  after  1905,  it  was  generally  thought  that  they 
were  only  insurrections  of  a  local  character  or  mere  riots. 
Wlien  in  1908  General  Diaz  announced  in  the  famous  C'reel-  [ 
man  interview  that  he  was  ready  to  retire,  public  ojiinion 
in  Mexico  was  profoundly  stirred.  Opposite  tendencies 
appeared;  one  instigated  by  the  friends  of  General  Diaz, 
which  demanded  his  reelection  or  the  election  of  a  man 
who  would  continue  his  policies,  and  the  other  wliich  wished 
a  change  in  the  government  and  in  the  s^'stem. 

It  was  at  that  time  that  don  Francisco  I.  Madero  organized 
the  anti-reelection  party,  and  that  he  began  his  electoral 
campaign  under  the  motto  "effective  voting  and  no-re- 
election." It  was  sup|)osed  that  the  best  remedy  for  the 
Mexican  situation  would  be  a  free  election  of  a  president, 


58  Lie.    LUIS   CABRERA 

and  the  establishment  in  the  political  laws  of  the  principle 
of  one  term.  The  political  problem  seemed  to  be  the  most 
important  of  all  questions,  and  it  absorbed  entirely  the 
public's  attention  so  that  the  economic  and  social  problems 
were  lost  sight  of. 

General  Diaz  accepted  very  easily  his  last  reelection,  and 
permitted  to  be  named  with  hun,  as  vice-president,  Ram6n 
Corral,  who  represented  the  perpetuation  of  the  Diaz  re- 
gime. No  other  candidates  than  Diaz  and  Corral  were  ad- 
mitted. IMadero  was  arrested  before  the  elections,  and  the 
triumph  of  the  Diaz-Corral  ticket  made  it  apparent  that  it 
was  impossible  to  obtain  a  political  change  by  ballot. 

On  his  escape  from  prison,  Francisco  I.  Madero  started 
the  revolution.  The  plan  of  San  Luis  Potosi,  which  was 
the  basis  of  the  movement,  made  it  clear  that  the  leaders 
still  considered  as  the  chief  problem  of  Mexico  a  political 
change,  and  the  purpose  of  that  plan  was  chiefly  a  change 
of  government. 

The  rural  classes,  however,  followed  Madero,  and  supported 
him  in  the  revolution  initiated  by  him,  under  the  tacit  belief 
that  his  revolution  would  bring  some  agrarian  reforms  which 
were  needed  to  improve  the  condition  of  the  masses,  but 
which  were  not  yet  enunciated  in  any  concrete  form. 

General  Diaz  believed  that  he  would  stop  the  revolution 
by  his  retiring  from  power.  The  negotiations  at  Juarez, 
by  which  General  Diaz  agreed  to  retire  and  to  deliver  the 
government  to  a  provisional  president,  checked  the  revolu- 
tion precisely  when  it  began  to  acquire  its  actual  strength 
and  real  form. 

De  la  Barra,  a  vacillating  and  Jesuitic  character,  had  no 
formative  policy  during  his  administration.  As  a  creature 
of  General  Diaz,  intimately  connected  with  the  conserva- 
tive element  of  the  old  regime,  he  merely  limited  himself  to' 
muster  out  the  revolutionary^  army,  as  the  way  in  which  he 
understood  peace  ought  to  be  reestablished. 

By  this  negative  action  he  minimized  the  effect  of  the 
revolution  and  he  prepared  a  reaction  in  favor  of  the  old 
regime.  The  same  men  who  surrounded  General  Diaz  and 
who  had  urged  the  continuation  of  his  policies,  returned  to 


A    MEXICAN    POINT   OF   VIEW  59 

the  country  when  they  saw  that  they  were  not  persecuted, 
and  started  a  political  campaign  against  iVIadero  and  against 
the  revolution.  It  was  during  this  period  that  efforts  were 
made  to  concentrate  th^  public  opinion  in  favor  of  General 
Reyes  and  De  la  Barra  himself  as  presidential  candidates 
against  IVIadero. 

It  was  at  this  same  time  that  the  clerical  party  which  since 
1867  liad  shown  no  signs  of  Hfe,  was  revived  under  the  name 
of  the  Catholic  party,  and  clearly  showed  that  it  favored 
the  reactionary  principles  of  the  Diaz  regime. 

De  la  Barra's  ad-interim  administration  can  be  summed 
up  by  saying  that  while  he  recei/ed  the  government  in  trust 
to  be  turned  over  to  the  revolution,  he  did  everything  in  his 
power  to  keep  it  for  himself  and  to  avoid  the  advent  of  the 
new  regime,  thus  showing  disloyalty  both  to  Aladero  person- 
ally, and  to  the  revolution  itself. 

Wlien  Madero  came  into  power  in  November,  1911,  he 
found  the  government  in  such  condition  that  he  was  unable 
to  change  its  direction,  and  was  forced  to  accept  existing 
conditions  and  even  the  same  cabinet  appointed  by  De  la 
Barra,  in  which  the  most  influential  part  was  played  by 
Ministers  Calero,  Herndndez  and  Ernesto  ^ladero. 

Surrounded  by  nearly  all  Diaz  followers,  Madero  could 
not  establish  a  reform  policy.  During  all  the  time  of  his 
government,  he  was  constantly  called  by  two  opposite  ten- 
dencies: on  one  side  the  reactionary  in  favor  of  the  Diaz 
rdgime,  and  on  the  other  side  the  revolutionary. 

Madero  tried  to  make  friends  of  the  Diaz  partisans  but 
unsuccessful!}'.  At  the  same  time  he  lost  the  support  of 
the  greater  part  of  the  men  who  had  helped  him  during  the 
revolution. 

At  the  very  beginning  of  Madero's  administration  a 
protesting  movement  started,  which  was  backed  by  some 
of  the  old  r6gime.  The  insurrections  of  Pascual  Orozco  and 
of  General  Bernardo  Reyes  were  no  more  than  attempts  of 
reaction  against  the  1910  revolution.  The  insurrection  of 
F^lLx  Diaz  in  the  month  of  September,  1912,  demonstrated 
that  the  reactionary  sentiment  had  acc|uired  a  great  impor- 
tance, and  that  the  army,  which  was  the  same  army  left  by 


60  Lie.   LUIS   CABRERA 

General  Porfirio  Diaz,  was  not  in  sympathy  with  the  revo- 
kition  nor  with  jMadero  personally. 

The  uprising  of  the  arsenal  at  Mexico  City  in  the  month 
of  February,  1913,  was  the  most  vigorous  reactionary  move- 
ment of  any  started  against  Madero,  and  it  gave  General 
Huerta  a  chance  to  place  himself  at  the  head  of  the  re- 
action. 

General  Huerta,  who  had  been  in  the  army  since  the  time 
of  General  Diaz's  administration,  remained  in  it  during  the 
ad-interim  administration  of  De  la  Barra,  and  later  was 
under  the  orders  of  President  Madero. 

In  the  spring  of  1912,  Huerta  had  rendered  President 
Madero  very  important  services  in  overcoming  the  revolu- 
tionary movement  started  by  Pascual  Orozco  in  Chihuahua. 

The  prestige  acquired  by  General  Huerta  after  his  cam- 
paign against  Orozco,  made  him  appear  as  one  of  the  rising 
political  figures  in  Mexico,  in  spite  of  his  deficient  culture, 
and  his  not  very  commendable  personal  habits.  The  enemies 
of  Madero  soon  began  to  drop  words  of  personal  ambition 
in  his  ear,  and  finally  succeeded  in  convincing  him  that  he 
was  the  most  prominent  of  the  mihtary  officers  and  ^ladero's 
chief  support  in  maintaining  power. 

When  in  the  month  of  February  General  Felix  Diaz  cap- 
tured the  arsenal,  Huerta,  who  was  then  the  commander- 
in-chief  of  President  Madero's  troops,  did  not  make,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  any  serious  effort  to  recapture  the  arsenal 
and  overcome  F61ix  Diaz.  He  had  already  realized  that 
the  fate  of  the  government  was  in  his  hands,  and  during  the 
tragic  ten  days  of  the  bombardment  of  the  city  he  kept  a 
dubious  attitude. 

The  fight,  or  rather  the  firing  sustained  by  either  side, 
was  used  by  F^lix  Diaz's  supporters  as  a  moral  pressure  to 
bear  on  Madero  to  obtain  his  resignation.  Various  in- 
fluences were  resorted  to  for  that  purpose.  Finally,  the 
pressure  brought  to  bear  by  the  foreign  residents  and  the 
diplomatic  representatives,  gave  Huerta  an  excuse  to  attempt 
his  coup,  seemingly  with  the  purpose  of  reestablishing  peace 
through  the  arrest  and  deposition  of  Madero  and  Pino  Suarez. 

The  principal  role  in  this  coup  d'etat,  as  regards  the  help 


A    MEXICAN    POINT    OF    VIKW  61 

given  by  foreign  residents  and  diplomats  to  the  uprising  of 
Felix  Diaz  and  the  subsequent  overthrow  of  ]Madero  by 
Iluerta,  was  played  by  Mr.  Henry  Lane  Wilson,  American 
ambassador.  He  can  be  considered  as  the  chief  adviser  of 
Huerta  and  Diaz,  during  the  bombardment  and,  indeed,  as 
the  one  really  responsible  for  that  coup  d'etat. 

After  ^Madero  and  Pino  Suarez  had  been  arrested,  they 
were  compelled  to  hand  in  their  resignations.  As  provided 
by  the  ^Mexican  Constitution,  the  secretary  of  foreign  rela- 
tions, Mr.  Pedro  Lascurdin,  took  charge  of  the  executive 
power,  but  only  for  a  few  minutes,  just  long  enough  to  ap- 
point Huerta  as  secretary  of  the  interior  and  to  hand  in 
his  own  resignation  himself.  By  virtue  of  this  resignation, 
Huert^  was  to  assume  the  presidency  at  once. 

The^Iexican  congress,  acting  under  duress,  and  believing 
that  the  lives  of  the  president  and  the  vice-president  would 
thus  be  spared,  accepted  their  resignations,  and  endorsed 
the  appointment  of  Huerta  as  president  of  the  Republic. 

The  assassination  of  ]Madero  and  Pino  Suarez  was  an  act 
of  a  purely  political  character;  it  was  discussed  and  ap- 
proved by  General  Huerta  and  his  cabinet^  as  the  most 
expeditious  way  of  removing  all  possible  obstacles  to  the 
political  success  of  the  new  administration.  Huerta  thought 
that  by  putting  Madero  and  Pino  Suarez  out  of  the  way  he 
would  remain  practically  without  enemies.  He  was  mistaken 
in  thinking  that  ]\Iadero  and  Pino  Suarez  were  the  onl^^  ob- 
stacles that  the  new  administration  would  have  to  over- 
come. 

General  Huerta's  administration,  both  on  account  of  its 
acts  and  of  its  men,  was  a  thorough  restoration  of  the  dicta- 
torial regime  of  General  Diaz,  with  the  only  difference  that 
the  dictator  was  now  Huerta,  and  that  dictatorial  measures 
and  rigorous  methods  were  carried  to  an  extreme  they  had 
never  reached  before,  not  even  in  the  most  hazardous  times 
of  General  Diaz's  administration. 

>  Tho  cabinpt  of  Genoral  ITuorta,  which  was  appointod  in  accord  with 
F61ix  Diaz,  was:  Francisco  L.  do  la  Harra,  Alberto  Garcia  Graiiados, 
Toribio  Esquivel  Obrpg6n,  Rodolfo  Rcyca,  Manuel  Mondrag6n,  Alberto 
Robles  Gil  y  Jorge  Vera  Estafiol. 


62  Lie.    LUIS   CABRERA 

During  ]\Iadero's  government,  the  position  of  the  revolu- 
tionary element  was  uncertain  and  awkward,  because  while 
they  were  supposed  to  be  exercising  a  great  political  influence 
through  jMadero,  practically  they  had  no  influence  whatev^er 
since  the  Madero  government  was  almost  controlled  by  the 
conservative  cabinet. 

After  the  death  of  President  Madero,  the  position  of  the 
revolutionary  elements  became  clear.  During  his  life,  for 
reasons  of  loyalty  and  hope  of  a  change,  they  had  never  taken 
an  aggressive  attitude,  but  once  the  president  was  dead  and 
nothing  to  be  hoped  for  from  Huerta,  there  was  no  difficulty 
in  renewing  the  struggle. 

Huerta  represented  the  reaction  and  his  government  was 
no  more  than  the  restoration  of  the  government  of  General 
Diaz,  with  its  same  proceedings  and  the  same  men,  under 
the  orders  of  another  chief. 

The  revolution  against  Huerta  is  nothing  more  than  the 
revolution  started  in  1910  by  Madero,  and  which  having 
been  checked  in  1911  by  virtue  of  the  negotiations  of  Juarez 
and  the  election  of  Madero,  now  continued  and  entered  into 
full  activity,  augmented  because  of  the  revolting  circum- 
stances under  which  the  fall  of  Madero  had  taken  place. 
The  death  of  Madero  has  been  one  of  the  most  powerful  sen- 
timental factors  to  increase  the  revolutionary  movement 
against  Huerta. 

It  has  been  very  widely  stated  that  the  Carranza  movement 
has  only  the  purpose  of  avenging  the  death  of  Madero  and 
reinstating  the  office-holders  appointed  by  him.  This  is  not 
the  case.  The  purposes  of  the  Constitutionalists  are  higher 
and  better  defined  than  were  the  motives  of  the  1910  move- 
ment. The  Constitutionalists  propose  the  reestabhshment 
of  a  Constitutional  government  in  Mexico,  but  as  they  real- 
ize the  unfitness  of  the  Mexican  Constitution  and  other  laws, 
they  intend  to  reform  them  in  order  to  have  a  system  fitted 
to  the  country. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  peace  in  Mexico  cannot  be  estab- 
lished unless  a  complete  change  takes  place  in  the  govern- 
ment's personnel  and  in  the  systems  and  laws.     This  is  the 


A   MEXICAN   POINT   OF   VIEW  63 

reason  that  the  Constitutionalists  appear  too  radical  to  tliose 
who  would  like  to  find  a  way  of  pacifying  ^Mexico  at  once. 
The  Constitutionalists  mean  to  begin  immediately  such 
economic  reforms  and  specially  such  agrarian  reforms  as  are 
necessary  to  oflFer  to  the  lower  classes  an  opportunity  of 
impro\'ing  their  conditions:  division  of  large  estates,  equal- 
ization of  taxation,  and  in  places  where  it  would  be  neces- 
sary, the  reestablishment  of  the  "egidos"  or  comnmnal  land 
system. 


THE    FUNDAMENTAL    CAUSES  -  OF    THE 
PRESENT    SITUATION    IN    MEXICO 

By  Nevin  0.  Winter,  Author  of  "Mexico  and  Her  People  of 

To-day'' 

The  life  insurance  company,  before  passing  upon  an  appli- 
cation for  insurance,  requires  the  applicant  to  give  not 
only  the  facts  concerning  himself,  but  also  certain  infor- 
mation regarding  his  progenitors.  If  it  is  necessary  to 
look  to  the  ancestors  of  the  individual,  in  order  to  be  able 
to  judge  him  and  his  possible  ills  correctly,  how  much 
more  important  it  is  when  attempting  to  treat  of  the  con- 
ditions existing  in  a  nation  to  go  back  and  see  from  whom 
the  nation  have  descended,  what  traditions  may  have  been 
inherited,  and  what  environment  has  surrounded  it. 

In  an  attempt  to  analyze  the  troubles  of  Mexico,  it  is'not 
enough  to  say  that  the  land  question,  or  labor  for  debt,  or 
even  social  evolution  is  at  the  bottom  of  it  all.  Some 
great  injustice  or  inequality  might  explain  the  spontaneous 
uprising  of  a  people  in  revolution,  but  it  does  not  satisfactorily 
account  for  a  series  of  detached  revolutions  under  leaders 
who  would  be  just  as  ready  to  fight  each  other  as  the  cen- 
tral government  against  which  the  efforts  of  each  and  all 
are  aimed.  There  are  other  underlying  causes  which  must 
not  be  overlooked,  for  they  help  to  elucidate  a  situation 
that  is  almost  inexplicable  to  the  average  North  American. 

The  apparently  dormant  condition  of  some  of  the  coun- 
tries to  the  south  of  us  in  the  New  World  for  so  long  a  pe- 
riod, was  undoubtedly  due  to  the  different  conditions  under 
which  they  were  colonized.  Unlike  the  Cavaliers  who  set- 
tled in  Virginia  and  sought  political  freedom,  the  Puritans 
who  took  possession  of  the  New  England  coast  for  both  polit- 
ical and  religious  freedom,  and  the  broad-minded,  toler- 
ant Roman  Catholics  who  settled  in  Maryland  under  the 
concession  granted  to  Lord  Baltimore,  the  early  colonists 

64 


THE    PRESENT    SITUATION    IN    MEXICO  65 

of  South  and  Central  America  sought  those  shores  to  se- 
cure wealth  and  the  means  of  an  easy  existence.  They 
brought  with  them  the  spirit  of  the  Middle  Ages;  instead 
of  seeking  religious  freedom,  they  transferred  the  narrowness 
of  creed  that  characterized  Spain  in  the  time  of  Ferdi- 
nand and  Isabella  to  the  New  World.  The  natives  were 
enslaved,  as  the  Conquistadores  did  not  look  upon  labor 
with  favor.  Looking  upon  the  natives  as  an  inferior  race, 
it  soon  became  unpopular  among  the  Spaniards  to  per- 
form any  labor  which  might  be  considered  menial.  The 
Inquisition  was  established  with  all  its  bigotry  and  disre- 
gard of  the  God-given  human  rights. 

With  the  union  of  the  crowns  of  Castile  and  Aragon, 
by  the  marriage  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  and  by  the 
overwhelming  defeat  of  the  dark-complexioned  Moors, 
Spain  had  become  a  nation  filled  with  soldiers  and  adven- 
turers. The  long  wars  with  the  alien  invaders  had  bred 
a  race  inured  to  and  in  love  with  the  profession  of  arms. 
With  the  discovery  of  the  New  World  Spain  had  suddenly 
leaped  to  the  front  and  had  become  for  a  time,  at  least,  the 
greatest  nation  of  the  day.  Ships  were  constructed  in  great 
numbers  and  sent  out  filled  with  voyagers  "toward  that 
part  of  the  horizon  where  the  sun  set."  In  the  sixteenth 
centur>'  Spain  had  practically  become  the  mistress  of  the 
seas  and  the  most  powerful  nation  in  the  world.  Her  sol- 
diers were  brave  and  the  acknowledged  leaders  of  chivalry. 
One  is  lost  in  admiration  of  the  undaunted  courage  of  such 
men  as  Cortez  and  Pizarro,  and  of  the  lesser-known  heroes 
Pedro  de  Alvarado,  who  made  a  successful  expedition  against 
the  powerful  Quiche  tribes  in  Guatemala,  and  Pedro  de 
Valdivia,  who  resolutely  marched  across  the  great  nitrate 
deserts  of  Tarapacd  and  Atacama,  and  added  Chile  to  the 
Spanish  crown. 

When  Cortez  and  his  band  of  adventurers  came  to  the 
court  of  Montezuma,  and  saw  the  lavish  display  of  vessels 
and  ornaments  made  of  the  precious  metal,  they  thought 
that  they  had  discovered  the  land  of  gold  for  wliich  they 
were  searching.  Attracted  by  the  glowing  reports  of  un- 
told wealth,  thousands  of  Spaniards  soon  followed  the  first 


66  NEVIN   O.    WINTER 

band  of  Conquistadores,  and  they  rapidly  spread  over  the 
entire  country  occupied  by  the  Aztecs,  ever  searching 
for  the  mines  from  whence  this  golden  har\'est  came.  A 
little  later  Pizarro  made  his  wonderful  find  of  the  Inca  civ- 
ilization in  Peru,  and  his  reports  were  confirmatory  of 
the  almost  unbelievable  wealth  told  by  Cortez  and  his  fol- 
lowers of  the  wonders  of  the  New  World.  Then  the  lead- 
ers began  their  policy  of  imprisoning  and  torturing  the 
Aztec  and  Inca  chieftains  to  force  them  to  give  up  the 
hiding  places  of  their  treasures.  New  bands  of  adventur- 
ers were  attracted  to  the  New  World,  and  ship  after  ship 
set  sail  toward  the  setting  sun  loaded  with  adventurers 
and  their  followers,  and  ever  ringing  in  the  ears  of  all  was 
the  refrain: 

Gold!    Gold!    Gold!    Gold! 
Bright  and  yellow,  hard  and  cold. 

Shortly  after  the  Conquest  all  the  desirable  lands  were 
parcelled  out  among  the  invaders,  and  the  few  Indian  caci- 
ques who  had  helped,  with  their  powerful  influence,  in 
their  subjugation.  The  Spaniards  rapidly  pacified  the 
country,  for  the  Aztec  masses,  however  warlike  they  may 
have  been  before  the  coming  of  the  Spaniards,  were  sub- 
dued by  one  blow.  There  were  soon  convinced  that  oppo- 
sition to  the  power  of  Spain  was  useless.  The  priests,  also, 
through  their  quickly  acquired  influence,  taught  submis- 
sion to  those  whom  God,  in  His  infinite  wisdom,  had  placed 
over  them.  Chiefs  who  would  not  yield  otherwise  were 
bribed  to  use  their  power  over  their  vassals  in  favor  of  the 
Spaniards.  Thus  by  force,  bribery,  intrigue,  diplomacy, 
treachery  and  even  religion,  the  Indians  were  reconciled 
and  the  spirit  of  opposition  to  the  Spaniards  broken.  The 
result  was  a  new  and  upstart  nobility  who  ruled  the  country 
with  an  iron  hand  in  the  course  of  a  few  decades;  and  the 
natives,  with  the  exception  of  the  chiefs,  were  made  vas- 
sals of  these  newly-made  nobles. 

The  Church  is  a  delicate  subject  upon  which  to  touch, 
but  the  ecclesiastical  authorities  worked  hand  in  hand  with 
the  civil  authorities.  Pope  Alexander  VI  issued  the  fol- 
lowing bull: 


THE    PRESENT    SITUATION    IN   MEXICO  67 

We  give,  concede,  and  assign  tliem  (lands  in  the  New  World)  in 
perpetuity  to  you  and  the  Kings  of  Castile  and  of  Leon,  your  heirs 
and  successors;  and  we  make,  constitute  and  depute  j'^ou  and  your 
heirs  and  successors,  the  aforesaid,  lords  of  these  lands,  with  free, 
full  and  absolute  power,  authority  and  jurisdiction. 

This  absolute  power  and  union  of  the  church  with  civil 
authorities  worked  great  harm  in  the  colonies,  and  Mexico 
had  more  than  her  full  share.  It  is  simply  another  illus- 
tration of  the  fact  that  special  privileges  are  difficult  to 
eradicate  when  established  by  Long  usage,  and  those  enjoy- 
ing them  yield  only  to  force.  /The  Church,  which  had  im- 
posed on  the  people  such  a  vast  number  of  priests,  friars 
and  nuns,  and  had  acquired  most  of  the  wealth  of  the 
country,  clung  w4th  the  grip  of  death  to  its  privileges  and 
propert3\l  Brazil  is  the  only  country-  of  South  America 
where  the  two  forces  have  been  separated,  and  Mexico  is 
the  most  conspicuous  of  the  North  American  Latin  repub- 
lics. 

If  we.  as  citizens  of  the  United  States,  in  reading  our 
early  colonial  history,  think  that  our  forefathers  had  reason 
to  feel  aggrieved  against  the  mother  country,  and  if  we  be- 
lieve that  the  events  of  the  Boston  Tea  Party  and  other 
disturbances  which  antedated  the  Revolutionary  War  were 
justified,  how  much  more  reason  the  colonists  of  the  Spanish 
American  colonies  had  to  be  indignant  toward  their  mother 
country.  Our  forefathers  had  not  one-tenth  of  the  griev- 
ances to  complain  of  that  could  be  found  in  the  treatment 
of  Mexico,  Peru,  Chile  and  the  other  Spanish  provinces 
because  of  their  misrule  by  Spain.  The  entire  colonial 
system  of  Spain  in  South  and  Central  America  was  one  of 
selfishness,  cruelty  and  tyranny. 

The  policy  actuating  Spain  and  dictating  her  treatment 
of  her  New  World  provinces  was  well  expressed  by  one  of 
the  Mexican  viceroys  as  follows: 

Let  the  people  of  these  dominions  learn  once  for  all  that  they 
were  born  to  be  silent  and  to  obey,  and  not  to  discuss  or  to  have 
opinions  in  political  affairs. 

As  a  consequence  of  its  narrow  and  almost  inhuman 
policy,   local   human   rights   were   not   recognized   bj'   the 


68  NEVIN   O.    WINTER 

government  of  Spain.  It  was  treason  for  a  man  to  assert 
his  freedom,  or  to  seek  a  free  field  for  his  labor.  He  could 
not  enter  into  business  without  the  consent  of  an  official. 
The  natives  were  compelled  to  labor  for  the  conquerors 
without  profit.  Imposing  buildings  were  constructed,  cities 
were  encircled  with  massive  walls,  great  monasteries, 
churches  and  convents  rose  on  the  hills,  all  by  the  unre- 
quited toil  of  generations  of  these  impressed  natives.  Edu- 
cation was  denied,  and  the  local  governors,  including  in 
many  instances  the  ecclesiastical  officials,  united  in  this 
system  of  repression  and  disregard  of  human  rights. 

Trade  with  foreign  countries  was  wholly  prohibited,  and 
all  mineral  wealth  was  heavily  taxed.  The  sole  purpose 
of  the  colonial  policy  of  Spain  in  the  matter  of  trade  seemed 
to  be  to  protect  the  trading  monopoly,  which  had  been 
farmed  out  to  the  merchants  of  Cadiz,  and  to  keep  a  record 
of  the  production  of  silver  and  gold  in  order  to  insure  the 
collection  of  the  royal  one-fifth.  This  policy  is  shown  in 
its  greatest  absurdity  in  the  treatment  of  Argentina.  Every 
Atlantic  port  of  South  America  was  closed  to  traffic  except 
Nombre  de  Dios  on  the  coast  of  Panama.  Everything 
destined  for  that  continent,  even  for  the  mouth  of  the  Rio 
de  la  Plata,  had  to  be  landed  there,  transported  across  the 
Isthmus,  reloaded  to  vessels  on  the  Pacific  bound  for  Cal- 
lao,  and  from  there  again  transported  overland  across  the 
mighty  heights  of  the  Andes.  The  governors  of  Buenos 
Aires  were  instructed  to  forbid  all  importation  and  expor- 
tation from  that  port  under  penalty  of  death  and  forfeit- 
ure of  property  to  those  engaged  in  it. 

Spain  continued  to  send  all  of  her  viceroys,  captains- 
general,  archbishops,  etc.,  from  the  mother  country.  Of 
the  one  hundred  and  seventy  viceroys  who  ruled  in  the 
Americas,  only  four  were  of  American  birth,  and  those 
were  reared,  as  well  as  educated,  in  Spain.  The  same 
would  hold  true  of  the  archbishops,  captains-general,  and 
other  chief  officials.  Some  of  these  officials  were  good,  bat 
most  of  them  were  either  bad  or  indifferent.  Of  the  gov- 
ernors of  Argentina,  all  were  Spaniards  with  one  exception — 
Saavedra — and  this  man  is  one  of  the  brightest  names  dur- 


THE    PRESENT    SITUATION    IN   MEXICO  69 

ing  the  seventeenth  century.  He  retained  the  confidence 
of  both  natives  and  Spaniards  by  his  reputation  for  giving 
a  square  deal  to  all  sides. 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  and  in  fact  no  other  result 
could  be  expected  by  the  intelligent  and  unprejudiced  stu- 
dent of  historj-,  than  that  three  centuries  of  such  nile 
should  have  an  important  effect  upon  the  character  of  the 
colonies  over  which  it  was  exercised.  It  has  long  been  a 
disputed  question,  and  a  favorite  subject  for  debate  in  lit- 
erary societies,  as  to  which  force,  whether  that  of  heredity 
or  environment,  exercises  the  greatest  influence  in  the  de- 
velojDment  of  character;  but  the  partisans  of  each  side 
recognize  and  will  readily  admit  that  both  heredity  and 
environment  are  dominant  forces  in  the  development  of 
the  character  of  the  individual  and  the  nation  as  well. 
Therefore  we  can  not  do  othervvise  in  trying  to  decide  the 
underlying  causes  of  the  unrest  existing  in  Mexico,  and 
which  at  times  breaks  forth  in  some  of  the  other  republics 
to  the  south  of  us,  than  consider  this  element  and  placing 
upon  it  considerable  stress.  Someone  may  say  that  a  hun- 
dred years  has  passed  since  the  Spanish  rule  was  practically 
broken  in  the  New  World,  but  a  hundred  years  is  too  short  a 
time  in  the  life  of  a  nation  to  overcome  fully  the  evil  effects 
of  such  an  environment  superimposed  upon  the  hereditary 
feature  that  has  already  been  mentioned. 

Hence  it  is  that  in  studying  the  history  of  Mexico  and 
the  other  Latin- American  republics,  that  although  we  find 
Mexico's  Hidalgo,  Venezula's  Bolivar,  Argentina's  San 
Martin,  and  other  patriots  whom  we  may  well  place  by 
the  side  of  our  beloved  Washington,  at  the  same  time  we 
find  Santa  Ana  of  Mexico,  Carrera  of  Guatemala,  Rosas  of 
Argentina,  Lopez  of  Paraguay,  and  many  others  who  might 
be  mentioned,  for  whom  we  can  find  no  counterpart  in  the 
history  of  the  United  States,  unless  someone  might  suggest 
the  name  of  Aaron  Burr.  Burr  was  undoubtedly  willing 
to  plunge  his  native  land  into  war  to  further  his  selfish  am- 
bitions, but  he  could  not  find  enough  followers.  These 
men  had  inherited  to  the  full  the  mediaeval  idea  of  feudal- 
ism that  might  always  makes  right,  that  and  one  is  justified 


70  NEVIN   O.    WINTER 

in  pushing  his  power  to  the  uttermost  by  the  force  of  arms 
in  gaining  his  own  selfish  ends.  These  men  had  no  more 
regard  for  the  rights  of  the  individual,  or  for  the  inherent 
claims  of  human  liberty,  than  had  Spain  or  the  viceroys 
whom  she  sent  to  govern  the  colonies  in  the  New  World. 
We  can  appreciate  the  sentiment  that  led  to  the  self  abne- 
gation of  San  Martin,  who  sacrificed  home,  friends  and 
honors  after  assisting  in  the  establishment  of  three  repub- 
lics, and  even  submitted  to  cruel  charges  of  ingratitude 
and  cowardice  rather  than  take  part  in  the  divisions  of  the 
factions  fighting  among  themselves  for  place  in  his  beloved 
fatherland.  Few  finer  examples  of  unselfishness  are  re- 
corded in  the  world's  history.  We  can  realize  the  truth 
contained  in  the  political  document  left  by  General  Boli- 
var, which  concludes  with  these  words:  "I  have  ploughed 
in  the  seas." 

In  only  a  few  of  the  republics  of  the  New  World  to  the 
south  of  us  has  there  been  any  great  amount  of  new  blood 
introduced  by  way  of  immigration.  Spain  forbade  immi- 
grants to  come  into  her  colonies,  and  the  natural  resources 
of  most  of  the  others  have  not  attracted  those  seeking  new 
homes  in  any  great  numbers  since  the  ban  was  removed. 
The  exceptions  to  this  general  statement  are  Argentina  and 
Brazil.  To  both  of  those  republics  thousands  upon  thou- 
sands of  immigrants  have  come  each  year  for  a  considerable 
period,  and  the  good  results  of  this  influx  are  shown  in  the 
increased  steadiness  of  the  republican  form  of  government. 

These  immigrants  have  been  mostly  Italians  and  Span- 
iards, although  in  Brazil  a  very  large  colony  of  Germans 
have  made  their  home.  But  the  Spaniards  who  have  come 
in  this  recent  immigration  are  different  from  those  early 
adventurers  who  first  sought  these  shores.  They  are  men 
who  do  not  seek  gold  or  any  easy  road  to  wealth;  they  are 
not  men  who  toil  not,  neither  do  they  spin,  but  they  come 
to  their  new  homes  with  the  purpose  and  expectation  of 
earning  their  bread  by  the  actual  sweat  of  their  brow,  and 
asking  only  that  a  fair  remuneration  be  given  them  in  re- 
turn for  this  expenditure  of  energy.  They  are  the  same 
type  of  people  as  the  Germans  and  the  English  and  the 


THE    PRESENT    SITUATION    IN    MEXICO  71 

Irisli  who  sought  new  homes  within  the  borders  of  tlie 
United  States,  and  who  have  formed  the  real  backbone  of 
the  Republic,  as  it  exists  today. 

Since  the  establishment  of  the  republic  in  Brazil  in  1889 
by  a  bloodless  revolution,  there  has  been  a  continuous  suc- 
cession of  constitutional  occupants  of  the  presidential  chair 
down  to  the  present  time.  The  same  statement  might  be 
made  for  Argentina,  covering  a  period  since  the  election 
of  that  noble  man,  President  Bartolom^  Mitre,  in  1862. 
Among  his  successors  have  been  some  most  excellent  states- 
men, such  as  Sarmiento,  and  to  offset  the  good  report  there 
has  only  been  the  one  unfortunate  case  of  the  grasping  Cel- 
man.  In  my  opinion  these  countries  have  one  advantage 
over  our  own  in  that  a  president  is  forbidden  by  the  consti- 
tution to  succeed  himself,  and  therefore  is  not  under  the 
temptation  to  use  his  first  term  of  office  to  build  up  a  machine 
or  organization  in  order  to  secure  for  himself  a  second  term. 
In  both  Argentina  and  Brazil  this  requirement  is  faith- 
fully respected,  and  President  Roca  of  Argentina  is  the  only 
man  who  was  called  for  the  second  time  to  the  high  office 
of  president,  and  in  this  instance  two  terms  of  six  years 
each  inter\'ened  between  the  first  and  second  terms  of 
President  Roca. 

Let  us  take  a  look  for  a  moment  at  the  early  history  of 
the  Republic  of  Mexico,  and  see  how  tlie  principles  herein 
enunciated  have  worked  out.  The  beginning  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  opened  with  a  feeling  of  unrest  in  all  Eu- 
ropean nations  and  their  colonies.  When  Napoleon  began 
to  overturn  monarchies  with  a  ruthless  hand,  the  idea  of 
the  divine  right  of  kings  received  a  shock.  Among  the  coun- 
tries thus  afTected  was  Spain,  which  had  fallen  from  the  high 
pedestal  it  had  formerly  occupied.  The  success  of  the 
English  colonists  in  overthrowing  the  foreign  yoke  no  doubt 
acted  as  a  leaven  in  spreading  dissatisfaction  throughout 
the  Spanish  colonies,  but  an  influence  of  even  greater  mo- 
ment was  the  placing  upon  the  throne  of  Spain  of  Joseph 
Napoleon  by  his  brother,  the  Emperor.  Hitherto  a  sort 
of  religions  reverence  had  been  felt  toward  the  Spanish 
niler,  but  no  such  sentiment  was  held  toward  the  Napoleons. 


72  NEVIN   O.    WINTER 

The  spirit  of  revolution  and  liberty  was  in  the  air,  and  re- 
straint became  more  and  more  galling  upon  the  colonists 
in  Mexico, 

It  was  on  the  morning  of  the  16th  of  September,  1810, 
that  a  struggle  for  independence  was  inaugurated  by  Mi- 
guel Hidalgo  in  the  little  village  of  Dolores,  which  lasted 
for  eleven  years,  and  during  which  much  of  the  soil  of  Mex- 
ico was  crimsoned  with  the  blood  of  those  slain  in  battle  or 
executed  by  the  authorities  as  traitors.  At  the  outset  the 
people  were  much  less  prepared  for  a  contest  at  arms  than 
were  the  American  revolutionists,  most  of  whom  had  been 
accustomed  to  firearms  in  their  effort  to  conquer  the 
wildeiTiess.  The  Mexicans  knew  nothing  of  weapons  or 
military  tactics,  and  their  early  leaders  were  even  without 
military  training.  Hidalgo  and  Morelas  were  priests  of 
the  established  church.  The  followers  of  Hidalgo  were 
made  up  of  a  motley  crowd  armed  with  stones,  lances, 
machetes,  arrows,  clubs  and  swords.  But  enthusiasm  made 
up  for  the  lack  of  weapons  and  militarj^  training,  so  that 
terror  struck  the  hearts  of  the  Spaniards,  and  every  town 
for  a  time  yielded  to  this  new  leader. 

Spanish  rule  formally  ended  in  Mexico  in  1821,  but  peace 
did  not  follow  at  once  as  it  did  in  the  United  States,  for  in 
the  fifty  years  succeeding  the  securing  of  independence, 
the  form  of  government  changed  ten  times,  and  there  were 
fifty-four  different  iiilers,  including  two  emperors  and  a 
number  of  dictators.  There  were  five  different  presidents 
in  each  of  the  years  1846  and  1847,  and  there  were  four  in 
the  year  1855.  These  facts  are  not  an  evidence  of  tran- 
quillity, to  say  the  least.  The  ''progresistas"  and  "retro- 
grados,"  or,  as  we  would  say  in  English,  the  conservatives 
and  the  liberals,  were  constantly  at  war  with  each  other. 
Frequently  it  was  the  contest  between  the  clericals  and 
anti-clericals,  a  struggle  over  the  sequestration  of  church 
property.  The  anti-clericals  were  probably  just  as  good 
Christians  as  the  others,  but  they  thought  that  the  church 
had  too  much  wealth.  I  would  not  be  surprised  if  some  of 
the  same  influences  were  at  work  in  the  present  situation. 
From  the  end  of  the  administration  of  the  first  president. 


THE    PRESENT    SITUATION    IN    MEXICO  73 

Guadalupe  Victoria,  which  ended  in  1828,  until  after  the 
deatli  of  IVIaximilian,  in  18G7,  there  was  not  a  year  of  peace 
in  Mexico.  Revolutions,  promunciamenlos,  "plans"  and  re- 
storations followed  each  other  in  quick  succession.  "Plans" 
of  one  faction  were  bombarded  by  "pronunciamentos"  by 
its  opponents.  Generals,  presidents  and  dictators  sprang 
up  like  mushrooms  and  their  career  was  as  evanescent. 
Revolutions  were  an  every  day  affair.  A  man  in  position 
of  authority  did  not  know  when  his  time  to  be  shot  might 
come.  A  sudden  turn  of  fortune  might  send  him  either 
to  the  National  Palace  or  before  a  squad  of  men  with  guns 
aimed  at  his  heart.  An  illustration  of  the  latter  statement 
is  shown  in  the  treatment  of  that  grim  old  patriot,  Guerrero. 
By  a  turn  of  fortune  he  became  the  third  president  in  1829; 
only  a  few  months  later  he  was  compelled  to  flee  and,  after 
a  farcical  trial,  was  condemned  to  death  as  "morally  in- 
capable" and  was  shot  on  the  15th  of  February,  1831. 

Elections  eventually  became  a  farce.  The  unfortunate 
habit  was  required  of  appealing  to  arms  instead  of  submitting 
to  the  result  of  the  ballot.  The  trouble  was  that  the  people 
had  copied  the  letter  and  not  the  spirit  of  the  American 
Constitution.  It  is  an  exemplification  of  the  fact  that  self- 
government  can  not  be  thrust  upon  nations  from  without. 
It  must  be  developed  from  within.  A  constitution  with 
high  sounding  words  means  little  to  a  people  unless  to  the 
distinguishing  characteristics  of  self-reliance  and  self-confi- 
dence are  also  added  that  important  quality  of  self-control. 

Had  it  not  been  for  the  elements  of  heredity  and  environ- 
ment, of  which  I  have  already  made  mention,  such  condi- 
tions as  these  just  related  would  not  have  been  possible; 
a  Santa  Ana  could  never  have  been  evolved.  Many  of  the 
so-called  revolutionary'  leaders  were  little  more  than  free- 
booters. They  may  have  secured  their  followers  through 
high-sounding  speeches,  which  were  punctuated  with  choice 
rhetoric  and  seductive  promises,  but  the  fact  remains  that 
they  deserve  no  more  respect  than  the  highway  robber  whf) 
would  rob  you  of  your  all.  They  would  violate  a  church 
with  as  little  compunction  of  conscience  as  an  avowed  enemy. 
Had  conditions  been  different,  it  would  not  have  been  possi- 


74  NEVIN   O.    WINTER 

ble  for  a  foreign  government  to  send  a  Maximilian  and  set 
him  up  on  the  throne.  Had  there  been  self-abnegation  and 
self-control,  which  are  so  necessary  in  a  republican  form 
of  government,  the  leaders  would  have  swallowed  their 
petty  jealousies  and  united  against  the  invasion  of  their 
soil  by  foreign  troups,  who  came  to  support  an  alien  em- 
peror upon  a  throne  in  a  country  which  for  almost  half  a 
century  had  held  itself  out  to  the  world  as  a  republic. 

The  United  States  has  something  to  be  ashamed  of  during 
this  period,  for  the  Mexican  War  is  not  a  subject  upon  which 
we  can  pride  ourselves.  Mr.  Bancroft,  the  historian,  does 
not  mince  words  in  his  treatment  of  the  subject,  for  he  says: 

It  [the  Mexican  War]  was  a  premeditated  and  predetermined 
affair;  it  was  the  result  of  a  deliberately  calculated  scheme  of 
robbery  on  the  part  of  the  superior  force. 

The  result  was  a  foregone  conclusion,  for  Mexico,  torn 
by  internal  dissensions,  impoverished  by  the  expense  of 
revolutions,  and  official  robberies,  and  with  a  government 
changing  with  every  change  of  the  seasons,  had  neither 
arms,  money  nor  supplies  for  such  a  conflict.  And  yet  this 
war  might  have  been  avoided  by  Mexico,  had  there  been  a 
government  in  power  long  enough  to  negotiate  a  treaty. 
A  special  envoy  sent  from  Washington  at  the  request  of  one 
president  was  refused  an  audience  by  a  new  one  who  had 
usurped  the  office  before  the  envoy  arrived.  The  brightest 
light  that  shines  throughout  this  period  is  that  of  the  grim 
old  warrior,  Juarez,  who  was  the  Lincoln  of  Mexico.  This 
man  had  even  greater  trials  than  our  martyred  president,  at 
least,  they  continued  much  longer,  but  he  kept  a  true  heart 
and  retained  his  courage  throughout  all  the  trials  and  tribu- 
lations of  many  years  of  public  life.  He  prepared  the  way 
for  the  man  who  did  bring  about  both  external  and  internal 
j)eace  and  material  prosperity'-  for  almost  a  generation. 

Opinions  differ  very  much  as  to  the  merits  of  the  long  nile 
of  Porfirio  Diaz,  and  I  say  rule  advisedly.  It  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at  that  the  man  who  governs  with  a  strong  arm 
will  make  bitter  enemies  as  well  as  warm  partisans.  Like- 
wise such  a  policy  will  always  have  its  defamers,  as  well  as 


THE    PRESENT    SITUATION    IN    MEXICO  75 

its  supporters.  The  judgment  of  the  world  is  still  divided 
about  Napoleon,  and  whether  his  high-handed  methods 
wrought  more  of  good  than  of  evil.  Hence  it  is  that  some 
can  see  nothing  in  Diaz  but  a  tyrant,  an  enslaver  of  his  people, 
and  a  man  unfit  for  even  life  himself.  They  forget  that 
neither  peonage  nor  the  land  monopoly  was  originated  by 
Diaz,  but  that  both  were  inherited  from  the  Spaniards  and 
supported  by  the  voters  of  the  country.  They  do  not  look 
into  the  conditions  faced  by  Diaz  when  he  first  became  presi- 
dent, nor  the  bloody  history  of  the  republic  before  that  time. 

Those  were  indeed  troublous  times  in  Mexico  while  we 
were  celebrating  the  centennial  of  our  independence  in  1876. 
The  strong  spirit  of  Juarez  had  been  broken  by  the  long 
strain  from  1857  to  1872,  during  which  time  he  was  nomin- 
ally president.  His  successor,  Lerda,  was  a  weak,  ambi- 
tious man  who  accomplished  little.  There  was  disorder, 
everj'where;  the  country  was  overrun  with  bandits,  and  a 
worse  than  empty  treasury  were  the  conditions  when  Diaz 
grasped  the  reins.  A  huge  foreign  debt  that  had  on  several 
occasions  brought  about  foreign  intervention  was  also  one 
of  the  conditions.  There  were  only  three  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  of  railroad  in  the  entire  country.  This  was  the  con- 
dition of  affairs  in  Mexico  when  Porfirio  Diaz  made  his 
memorable  march  into  the  City  of  Mexico  at  the  head  of 
an  army  of  several  thousand  armed  men  on  the  24  th  of 
November,  1876. 

Judging  this  man  at  a  distance,  we,  who  live  in  a  country 
where  even  a  third  term  is  a  "bogie,"  are  inclined  to  dismiss 
the  subject  of  Diaz  with  the  charge  of  "dictator"  and  "re- 
publican despot"  with  all  the  odium  that  these  terms  im- 
ply. President  Diaz  was  undoubtedly  both  a  dictator  and 
a  despot.  He  had  gone  into  office  with  the  slogan  of  one 
term,  and  he  respected  this  principle  of  his  platform  by 
retiring  at  the  end  of  his  first  term  of  four  years  and  grace- 
fully yielding  the  office  to  his  successor,  Gonzales.  This 
was  the  first  time  in  Mexican  history  where  the  spectacle 
was  seen  of  one  president  voluntarily  relinquishing  the  scep- 
ter to  his  successor  and  returning  to  private  life  without  an 
effort  to  retain  himself  in  power.     Gonzales  entered  the  office 


76  NEVIN   O.    WINTER 

one  of  the  most  popular  men  of  Mexico,  having  been  elected 
by  an  almost  unanimous  vote.  Four  years  later  he  left  it 
under  a  cloud  of  almost  universal  execration  and  contempt. 
Then  it  was  that  Diaz  was  reelected.  Then  it  was  that 
he  undoubtedly  changed  his  views,  and  had  the  law  of 
succession  changed  so  that  he  could  succeed  himself  in  a 
constitutional  manner.  He  occupied  that  high  office  thirty- 
one  years,  lacking  a  few  months,  or  almost  a  generation. 

My  personal  opinio q  is  that  the  motives  actuating  Presi- 
dent Diaz  were  of  the  highest  t^'pe  of  patriotism;  he,  more 
than  ourselves,  knew  the  needs  of  this  people  and  what  was 
best  for  them.  In  suppressing  brigandage  and  restoring 
internal  peace,  even  though  he  retained  his  position  by 
arbitrary  methods,  he  gave  the  people  a  needed  opportu- 
nity to  develop  the  resources  of  the  country,  to  increase 
the  education  among  the  masses,  and  to  devote  themselves 
to  those  peaceful  pursuits  which  are  so  necessary  to  develop 
the  national  character  essential  in  a  republican  form  of  gov- 
ernment. It  is  quite  likely  that  in  his  later  years,  through 
the  natural  weakening  of  bodily  and  mental  powers,  although 
he  was  a  remarkably  preserved  man  for  his  age,  that  he  may 
have  come  under  the  influence  of  unfortunate  advisers, 
who  were  farming  out  the  resources  of  the  country  for  their 
own  individual  benefit.  If  this  is  so,  it  is  an  unfortunate 
fact  and  bitterly  has  he  paid  for  it.  Whether  his  reten- 
tion of  the  office  for  so  long  a  period  was  a  really  good  or 
bad  thing  for  the  country  the  historian  of  the  future  will 
be  a  better  judge,  for  we  are  too  close  to  the  events  of  his 
time  to  weigh  them  correctly  and  impassionately. 

When  I  first  visited  Mexico,  Diaz  was  at  the  height  of 
his  power.  Railroad  development  was  going  ahead  rapidly; 
the  telegraph  and  the  telephone  were  spreading  over  the 
country;  new  mines  were  being  opened  up,  and  the  old  ones 
were  being  worked  industriously;  plantations  were  being  de- 
veloped by  outside  capital  in  the  tropical  regions,  and  every 
indication  seemed  to  augur  well.  Although  I  was  familiar 
with  the  turmoil  that  had  preceded  this  administration, 
it  seemed  to  me  that  so  many  years  had  passed  by  in  com- 
parative peace  and  quiet,  a  new  generation  had  grown  up 


THE    PRESENT    SITUATION    IN    MEXICO  77 

into  manhood  who  were  not  familiar  with  the  revolutionary 
disturbances  of  the  previous  years,  and  who  could  not  do 
otherwise  than  see  the  good  effects  of  peace,  that  all  possi- 
bility of  a  recurrence  of  such  conditions  had  passed  away. 
It  did  not  seem  possible  that  the  country  could  again  be 
torn  by  internal  dissensions,  with  revolutionary  leaders 
inciting  the  people  to  arms  all  over  the  republic. 

The  culmination  of  Mexico's  greatness  seemed  to  have 
been  reached  on  the  15th  of  September,  1910,  during  the 
centennial  celebration  to  which  most  foreign  countries  had 
sent  special  representatives.  On  the  night  of  that  date, 
President  Diaz  appeared  on  the  balcony  in  front  of  the  Na- 
tional Palace  where  the  old  bell  with  which  Hidalgo  first 
sounded  the  call  to  liberty  is  preserved.  The  President  waved 
a  flag,  rang  the  bell,  and  shouted  "Viva  Mexico!"  The 
cry  of  "Viva  Mexico"  was  taken  up  by  the  crowd  nearest 
to  the  President,  and  then  by  those  farther  away,  until  the 
great  shout  might  have  been  heard  all  over  the  capital. 
The  bells  of  the  grand  old  cathedral  pealed  forth  their 
loudest  tones,  the  factory  whistles  shrieked,  skyrockets 
were  sent  up  in  the  air,  and  ever>'  noise-making  device 
was  turned  loose.  In  the  light  of  later  events,  this  won- 
derful celebration  seems  to  have  been  a  sham,  or  at  least 
only  on  the  surface.  At  that  time  a  political  volcano  was 
simmering  all  over  the  republic,  and  was  just  ready  to 
break  forth  into  violent  eruption.  Less  than  two  months 
from  that  time  the  first  outbreak  against  the  civil  author- 
ities occurred.  A  new  leader  came  to  the  front  with  "no 
reelection"  and  "effective  suffrage"  as  the  two  catch  words. 
It  was  practically  the  same  battle  cry  as  that  of  Diaz  in  his 
original  campaign. 

No  sooner  was  Madero  installed  in  the  high  office  to  which 
he  was  elevated,  than  the  very  forces  which  he  had  himself 
brought  into  existence  were  arrayed  against  him.  Extrava- 
gant promises,  such  as  free  land,  lower  taxes,  higher  wages 
and  a  decreased  cost  of  living,  had  been  made.  It  was  the 
old  story  of  revolutions  in  Mexico,  and  some  of  the  other 
Latin  American  countries,  for  the  revolution  had  bred  a 
race  of  caudillos  for  whom  the  victorious  party  had  to  pro- 


78  NEVIN   O.    WINTER 

vide,  and  who  rated  their  own  deserts  high.  The  atavic 
appetite  for  a  life  of  adventure  had  again  been  whetted.  It 
was  an  absolute  impossibility  for  Madero,  however  well 
meaning  and  conscientious  he  may  have  been,  to  immediately 
carry  into  effect  the  reforms  promised  by  him,  and  to  pro- 
vide offices  for  these  followers  which  would  be  satisfactory 
to  themselves.  It  would  have  required  years  to  work  out 
such  a  program.  But  the  caudillos  could  not  wait.  The 
spirit  of  impatience  overcame  all  self-restraint,  all  patriotic 
impulse.  It  would  be  a  misuse  of  and  slander  upon  the  term 
patriot  to  call  all  of  these  revolutionary  leaders,  who  have 
sprung  up  in  nearly  every  section  of  Mexico,  by  the  name  of 
patriot.  Some  of  them  are  little  better  than  freebooters, 
who  prefer  a  life  of  adventure  and  notoriety  to  peaceful 
avocations.  Some  of  them  may  be  honest  in  their  views, 
but  sadly  mistaken.  I  would  not  attempt  to  classify  the 
revolutionary  leaders  and  say  which  of  them  belong  to  the 
first  class,  which  to  the  second  class,  or  which  of  them  may 
be  real  patriots,  but  I  feel  safe  in  saying  that  more  of  them 
belong  to  the  first  class  than  either  of  the  others.  They  are 
not  willing  to  curb  their  personal  ambitions  and  lust  for 
power  for  the  general  good  of  the  country. 

From  this  paper,  it  will  appear  that,  in  my  opinion,  the 
troubles  in  Mexico  are  of  long  standing.  Nearly  everything 
complained  of  by  the  Mexicans  themselves,  and  that  are 
criticised  by  people  of  other  nations,  can  be  traced  either 
to  the  effect  of  heredity  or  environment.  The  land  ques- 
tion, of  which  complaint  is  made  so  frequently,  was  inherited. 
The  greater  part  of  Mexico  was  parceled  out  by  Cortez  to 
his  followers,  and  that  which  was  not  given  by  him  was 
donated  by  the  Spanish  Crown  to  favorites.  Many  of  the 
descendants  of  those  original  settlers  still  occupy  these 
lands.  The  estate  of  General  Terrazas  in  Chihuahua 
would  make  a  commonwealth  as  large  as  the  states  of  Mas- 
sachusetts and  Rhode  Island  combined,  with  a  small  farm 
of  a  million  acres  besides.  The  Zuloaga  family  own  a  haci- 
enda which  is  thirty-five  miles  wide,  nearly  a  hundred  miles 
long,  and  includes  about  two  million  acres.  On  these  great 
haciendas  the  proprietors  still  live  a  patriarchal  existence 


THE    PRESENT   SITUATION    IN    MEXICO  79 

with  thousands  of  peons  attached  to  the  estates.  One  haci- 
enda controls  twenty  thousand  peons,  an  army  in  themselves. 

The  owners  of  these  great  estates,  like  all  owners  of  special 
privileges,  cling  to  their  inheritance  with  the  grip  of  death, 
and  they  will  do  anything  rather  than  yield  one  jot  or  one 
tittle  of  the  prerogatives  which  have  been  in  their  families 
for  generations.  Some  seven  thousand  families,  out  of  a 
population  of  fifteen  million,  own  the  entire  landed  surface 
of  Mexico,  according  to  the  best  reports  that  I  am  able  to 
find.  This  shows  that  it  has  never  been  a  land  of  home- 
steaders, such  as  we  have  in  the  United  States,  for  had  the 
land  been  parceled  out  as  it  has  been  with  us,  with  tens  of 
thousands  of  families  who  have  an  actual  interest  in  the 
soil,  the  political  conditions  in  Mexico  would  never  have 
reached  or  remained  in  the  state  that  they  have. 

Mexico  has  never  had  the  advantage  of  foreign  immi- 
gration, and  there  are  very  few  non-Spanish  speaking  whites 
in  Mexico,  with  the  exception  of  English,  Americans,  and 
Germans,  who  have  gone  there  not  for  the  purpose  of  making 
homes  for  themselves  and  their  families,  but  for  the  purpose 
of  exploiting  some  one  or  another  of  the  natural  resources 
of  the  countr}%  and  doing  it  frequently  at  the  expense  of 
the  Mexicans  themselves.  This  condition  can  be  blamed 
upon  Spain,  for  she  forbade  people  of  other  nations  to  come 
to  the  country'.  The  official  corruption  which  has  been 
criticised  a  great  deal,  and  for  which  there  is  undoubtedly 
considerable  reason,  was  the  result  of  Spanish  misrule,  for 
it  was  the  Spanish  overlords  who  introduced  and  developed 
this  system  of  goveniment.  When  you  know  that  there 
are  districts  in  Spain  today  where  scarcely  10  per  cent  of 
the  inhabitants  have  mastered  the  art  of  reading  and  writing, 
it  is  not  surprising  to  learn  that  after  three  centuries  of  the 
rule  of  Spanish  governors  and  viceroys,  95  per  cent  of  the 
people  in  Mexico  still  remained  in  profound  ignorance. 
Learning  for  the  masses  was  regarded  as  prejudicial  by  those 
re])resentatives  and  misrepresentatives  of  the  home  govern- 
ment. Although  conditions  are  not  ideal  yet,  the  percentage 
of  ignorance  has  been  greatly  reduced. 

Mexico  likewise  had  the  good  fortune,  as  well  as  misfor- 


80  NEVIN   O.    WINTER 

tune,  to  have  a  large  indigenous  population.  This  native 
population  furnished  the  labor  necessary  to  develop  the 
country  which  theConquistadores  were  unwilling  to  do  them- 
selves. They  were  reduced  to  a  condition  of  practical  slav- 
ery. When  slavery  was  abolished,  peonage  was  established. 
The  nature  of  these  peons,  who  constitute  almost  80  per 
cent  of  the  entire  population  of  Mexico,  is  such  that  they 
have  formed  a  compact  and  inert  mass.  They  have  been 
non-resisting  as  a  rule,  and  are  content  when  their  simple 
bodily  wants  are  supplied.  It  has  been  an  easier  matter 
for  the  hacendados  to  get  up  a  body  of  followers  who  would 
fight  for  them  from  the  ranks  of  their  peons.  The  peon 
is  one  of  the  greatest  problems  of  Mexico,  and  it  will  take 
a  long  time  to  develop  the  best  that  is  in  him. 

For  the  future  of  Mexico,  I  have  great  hopes.  Condi- 
tions are  better  today  than  they  were  a  half  century  ago. 
Just  when  the  turn  of  the  balance  will  come,  I  would  not 
venture  to  predict,  but  I  do  feel  safe  in  saying  that  it  will 
come  eventually.  The  inherited  misfortunes  of  the  Mexico 
of  today  will  sooner  or  later  pass  away.  Europe  at  one  time 
went  through  similar  conditions.  Out  of  the  troublous  times 
of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries,  nations  emerged 
which  had  been  strengthened  by  the  lessons  of  adversity 
learned  in  the  internecine  struggles  of  that  period.  This 
is  probably  the  final  transition — the  dawn  of  a  new  era. 
The  paroxysms  now  shaking  the  country  in  rebellions  and 
treacheries,  which  have  so  shocked  the  world,  mean  the 
recovery  of  Mexico  ultimately  to  peace  and  prosperity. 
Unrest  and  change  are  conditions  in  every  country  today, 
and  with  both  sexes.  These  conditions  have  but  added  to 
those  elements  of  unrest  peculiar  to  our  neighbor  across  the 
Rio  Grande.  A  strong  man  must  arise,  perhaps  another 
Diaz,  at  least  a  leader  of  enough  force  of  character  to  draw 
the  people  to  him  and  awe  any  opposing  chieftains  who  may 
wish  to  create  trouble  for  liis  own  personal  aggrandisement. 
Intervention  should  not  even  be  thought  of  by  the  United 
States.  From  a  standpoint  of  dollars  and  cents  it  would 
be  cheaper  for  Uncle  Sam  to  reimburse  all  losses  sustained 


THE    PRESENT  SITUATION    IN    MEXICO  81 

by  Americans  and  American  interests  than  to  incur  the 
expense  that  intervention  would  involve. 

I  like  the  Mexican  people,  and  I  am  a  great  admirer 
of  the  Spanish-American  and  Portuguese-American  races. 
They  are  not  inferior  to  the  Anglo-American.  They  have 
many  inherent  good  qualities;  they  possess  some  splendid 
traits  of  character,  which  are  difficult  to  find  in  the  North 
Americans.  Instead  of  bnisqueness  they  have  courtesy; 
in  financial  honor  they  are  the  equal  of  our  own  people. 
Tliey  are  perhaps  bound  more  to  the  influence  of  tradition 
than  we  are,  and  this  has  been,  I  believe,  one  of  their  mis- 
fortunes. Were  they  less  influenced  by  tradition,  these 
inherited  traits  which  I  have  mentioned  in  this  paper,  which 
are  not  found  in  nearly  all,  or  not  even  in  a  majority  of 
the  Mexicans,  but  which  are  found  in  enough  to  cause  the 
troubles  that  we  find  in  making  a  historical  study  of  the 
countrv',  would  have  disappeared  ere  this. 

I  have  great  faith  even  in  the  peon  who  constitutes  such 
an  important  element  in  Mexico.  Some  people  thnik  of 
the  peon  of  Mexico,  the  coolie  of  China,  and  the  peasant 
of  Russia  as  inferior  beings,  but  I  do  not  believe  that  there 
is  such  a  thing  as  inferior  humanity,  There  is,  however, 
a  great  deal  of  undeveloped  humanity,  and  it  is  in  this  class 
that  we  must  place  the  Mexican  peon.  He  is  almost  wholly 
an  undeveloped  creature.  There  are  a  few  isolated  examples 
vvhich  show  that  he  is  on  a  par  with  others  of  a  fairer  skin. 
Juarez  was  a  full  blooded  Mexican  Indio,  and  he  is  one  of 
the  greatest  men  that  Mexico  has  produced.  Diaz  him- 
self had  one-eighth  of  the  peon  blood  in  his  veins.  Many 
other  examples  might  be  given.  I  only  h()])e  that  the  time 
will  come,  and  come  soon,  when  tunnoil  and  revolution  will 
cease,  and  Mexico  will  take  her  place  by  the  side  of  the  great 
nations  not  only  of  the  New  World,  but  the  Old  World  as 
well. 


THE  MEXICAN  SITUATION 

By  S.  W.  Reynolds,  formerly  President  of  the  Mexican 
Central  Railway  Company,  Limited 

It  is  with  a  great  deal  of  diffidence  that  I  appear  before 
you  today  to  address  you  on  a  subject  which,  at  the  present 
time,  is  of  such  world-wide  importance,  and  which  seems 
likely  at  any  moment  to  involve  our  country  in  a  contest 
with  our  neighboring  republic  of  Mexico;  a  contest  which, 
if  ever  entered  into,  would  no  doubt  in  the  end  prove  suc- 
cessful, but  which  would  cost  a  great  number  of  lives  and 
a  vast  amount  of  treasure.  This  success  will  come  in 
part  from  the  fact  that  Mexico  has  not  the  men  or  the 
money  to  spend  in  such  a  conflict  that  we  have,  and, 
consequently,  will  not  have  the  endurance  to  carry  through 
a  defensive  contest. 

In  considering  the  present  situation,  it  is  well  to  look  at 
the  past  and  see  what  Mexico  has  been  in  the  more  recent 
years  of  her  history,  and  what  has  been  accomplished  in 
the  development  of  the  country.  You  are  all  too  familiar 
with  the  early  history  of  Mexico  to  make  it  necessary  for 
me  to  go  into  that  part  of  her  national  life.  You  will  be 
more  interested  in  taking  up  her  course  since  what  might  be 
termed  the  beginning  of  a  peaceful  and  progressive  term  of 
government  m  that  country. 

Her  greatest  and  most  material  advance  began  when  Gen. 
Porfirio  Diaz  became  her  President.  General  Diaz  was 
born  September  15,  1830,  in  Oaxaca.  He  was  the  son  of 
an  inn-keeper,  and  of  mixed  Indian  and  Spanish  decent, 
his  mother  having  belonged  to  the  Mixteca  tribe.  He  was 
one  of  six  children.  His  father  died  when  he  was  three  years 
old.  He  was  originally  mtended  for  the  church,  but  his 
temperament  not  tending  in  that  direction,  he  afterward 
studied  law  in  the  office  of  Benito  Juarez,  who  after^vard 
became  President  of  the  Republic.     Later  on,  he  entered 

82 


THE   MEXICAN   SITUATION  83 

the  anny  and  took  a  very  active  and  important  part  in 
military  life. 

General  Diaz's  first  wife  died  in  1880,  leaving  a  son  and 
two  daughters.  Three  years  later  he  married  Carmen 
Romero  Rubio,  the  daughter  of  Romero  Rubio,  who  was  a 
member  of  the  cabinet  for  many  years,  and  until  his  death. 
She  was  a  woman  of  great  beauty  and  refinement,  and  was 
affectionately  called  "Carmelita"  by  the  people  and  was 
much  loved  by  them.  She  was  of  great  assistance  to  Gen- 
eral Diaz  in  his  work. 

I  will  not  go  into  the  detail  of  his  life  up  to  the  time  he 
became  President.  He  assumed  the  executive  power  on 
November  24,  1876.  At  that  time  the  constitution  of  the 
Republic  provided  that  a  man  could  not  succeed  himself  as 
President,  therefore,  at  the  end  of  his  term  he  was  succeeded 
by  Gen.  Manuel  Gonzalez,  who  served  his  term,  and  in  turn 
was  succeeded  by  General  Diaz.  In  1884,  the  provision 
in  the  Constitution  was  altered  so  that  a  man  might  succeed 
himself,  and  thereafter  General  Diaz  continued  as  consti- 
tutional President. 

With  the  advent  of  General  Diaz  began  the  important 
development  of  the  country.  In  1876,  the  Republic  was 
bankrupt,  a  prey  to  civil  war,  brigandage,  etc.  In  1886, 
the  credit  of  Mexico  abroad  was  firmly  established  through 
a  proper  and  satisfactory  adjustment  of  the  foreign  debt, 
and  this  condition  continued  until  the  latter  part  of  the 
Madero  government.  When  General  Diaz  became  President 
the  treasury-  was  bankrupt,  when  he  left  it  he  left  $62,000,000 
in  it. 

One  of  General  Diaz's  early  methods  of  restoring  peace 
wa3  to  organize  the  bandits,  who  had  previously  preyed 
upon  the  countr>'  and  made  travel  through  it  dangerous, 
into  what  is  known  as  the  "Corps  of  Rurales,"  which  after- 
wards became  one  of  the  most  reliable  and  efficient  arms 
of  the  government's  ser\'ice.  He  also  made  it  much  more 
to  the  advantage  of  his  enemies  to  become  his  friends,  and 
in  that  way  pacified  the  contending  elements. 

General  Diaz's  greatest  move  toward  development  came 
through    the    promotion    of   railroad    construction    in    the 


\ 


84  S.    W.    REYNOLDS 

country.     Then  took  place  what  might  be  termed  the  peace- 

\ .;::,  ful  American  invasion  of  Mexico.     It  was  his  poHcy  to  in- 

^^      vite  anyone  to  come  there  with  their  money  and  enter  into 

'^'^         the   country's   development,    and  the  first  to  accept  this 

^^^  invitation  were  the  Americans. 

The  first  enterprise  of  any  importance  was  taken  up  by 
Boston  capitalists,  and  what  was  known  as  the  Sonora  Rail- 
road was  begun.  This  line  of  road  ran  from  Guaymas  on 
the  Gulf  of  California,  to  Nogales  on  the  American  fron- 
tier. It  was  begun  in  1879.  In  later  years  it  became  a 
part  of  the  Atchison,  Topeka  and  Sante  Fe  Railroad  system, 
and  is  now  a  part  of  the  Southern  Pacific  sj^stem,  and  has 
been  extended  nearly  to  Guadalajara  in  the  central  part 
of  the  Republic. 

The  next  railroad  taken  up  was  also  by  Boston  capital- 
ists, who  began  in  1880  the  building  of  the  Mexican  Cen- 
tral Railway  between  El  Paso  and  the  City  of  Mexico,  and 
completed  its  whole  length  of  1224  miles  to  the  City  of 
Mexico  in  1884,  and  it  was  opened  for  through  traffic  March 
22  of  that  year.  Since  then  additional  lines  have  been  built, 
until  the  system  covered  something  over  3200  miles  of  road. 
The  corporations  which  built  both  these  roads  were  or- 
ganized under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  which 
had  been  changed  so  as  to  permit  the  organization  of  cor- 
porations here  to  build  railroads  in  foreign  countries.  Other 
railroads  were  undertaken  by  Massachusetts  capital,  but 
they  were  not  generally  successful.  One,  however,  formed 
the  nucleus  of  what  has  since  become  an  important  system; 
that  is  the  line  across  the  Isthmus  of  Tehauntapec,  which 
has  now  become  a  national  highway  of  traffic  between  the 
Atlantic  and  Pacific.  Other  important  railway  lines  were 
built  with  American  capital,  in  fact,  by  far  the  larger  part 
of  the  railway  construction  in  Mexico  has  been  done  by 
Americans. 

As  showing  the  methods  of  the  government  in  handling 
this  great  development  and  the  wisdom  of  the  course  pur- 
sued in  aiding  and  subsidizing  the  roads,  the  experience  of 
the  Mexican  Central  Road  will  serve  as  an  illustration.  To 
aid  in  the  construction  of  this  road  the  government  granted 


THE   MEXICAN   SITUATION  85 

a  subsidy  of  $9,500  for  each  kilometer  built.  In  order  to 
make  it  easy  to  pay  this  subsidy,  certificates  of  indebtedness 
were  issued  by  the  government  on  completion  of  defined 
sections  of  the  road,  and  these  certificates  were  redeemable 
with  a  certain  percentage,  which  varied  from  time  to  time, 
of  the  gross  customs  receipts  of  the  country.  These  certif- 
icates were  placed  on  sale  at  every  place  where  duties  were 
collected,  and  importers  were  obliged  to  buy  the  percent- 
age of  their  duties  of  these  certificates,  and  pay  them  in 
to  the  government  as  a  part  of  the  duties  which  they  had  to 
pay.  By  this  method  the  road  was  assured  of  its  proper 
proportion  of  the  country's  revenues,  and  the  government 
not  having  received  it  did  not  have  to  pay  it  out. 

Subsidies  were  given  to  other  roads  on  this  and  other 
bases,  until  quite  an  important  part  of  the  revenues  of  the 
country'  had  been  pledged  for  this  purpose.  The  govern- 
ment wished  to  make  a  loan  abroad,  but  found  itself  handi- 
capped on  account  of  these  obligations.  They  finally,  how- 
ever, arranged  a  loan  for  an  amount  sufficient  in  addition 
to  their  other  wants  to  take  care  of  the  obligations  to  the 
railroads. 

Under  the  original  conditions,  the  collections  by  the  rail- 
roads would  have  extended  over  a  number  of  years,  so  in 
order  to  meet  the  equitable  result  of  anticipating  payment, 
negotiations  were  entered  into  with  the  various  roads  for 
an  equitable  adjustment  of  this  anticipation;  a  discount  of 
25  per  cent  was  finally  agreed  upon  in  the  case  of  the  Mexi- 
can Central.  The  amount  due  the  Company  at  that  time 
was  $19,820,793.01.  After  deducting  the  25  per  cent  and 
some  other  items  entering  into  the  settlement,  the  sum  of 
S14.335,732.06  was  paid  to  them  in  cash. 

In  1876,  Mexico  had  but  578  kilometers  of  railroad.  She 
has  now  upwards  of  10,000  kilometers.  Up  to  June  30, 
1896,  she  had  paid  in  subsidies  on  9196  kilometers  of  road 
the  sum  of  $107,743,660.25. 

I  tell  you  this  as  an  illustration  of  the  credit  that  the 
country-  had  attained,  and  the  justice  with  which  they 
treated  their  obligations  to  the  railroads. 

General  Diaz  had  as  an  ally  and  assistant  in  working  out 


86  S.    W.    REYNOLDS 

his  financial  policies  and  the  results  attained,  Jose  Yves 
Limantour,  who  was  his  secretary'  of  the  treasurj\  Liman- 
tour  was  of  mixed  Mexican  and  French  descent,  and  was  one 
of  the  ablest  financiers  of  the  age  and  commanded  the  re- 
spect and  admiration  of  the  people  of  his  own  country  and 
of  all  other  nations  with  whom  he  dealt. 

General  Diaz's  policy  in  opening  his  country  in  the  way 
he  did  for  development  was  not  shared  by  many  of  his 
advisers,  but  his  theory  was  that  the  country  could  afford 
to  ofi"er  the  opportunity  to  anyone  freely  to  go  there  and 
invest  their  money  on  the  promise  of  liberal  aid  from  the 
government  for  whatever  they  might  do,  as,  if  the  railroads 
were  not  built,  the  government  would  incur  no  obligation, 
and  if  they  were  built,  the  benefit  to  the  country  would 
amply  compensate  for  any  aid  that  might  be  given  them. 
The  value  of  this  policy  is  shown  by  the  immense  results 
which  came,  for  probably  nowhere  in  any  country  has  there 
been  so  great  a  development  is  so  short  a  time. 

Practically,  the  whole  of  this  wonderful  development 
has  come  as  a  result  of  the  opening  up  of  the  country  by  the 
railroads,  so  that  natural  and  latent  resources  might  be  made 
productive. 

Another  important  advantage  obtained  was  the  power 
it  gave  the  government  in  establishing  and  maintaining 
peace  throughout  the  country.  Formerly  when  disturb- 
ances arose,  it  took  so  long  for  troops  to  reach  the  scene, 
there  was  time  for  a  powerful  organization  to  form,  and  it 
took  a  longer  time  for  it  to  be  subdued.  Later  when  trouble 
occurred,  the  government  was  able  to  reach  the  scene  and 
subdue  it  before  it  assumed  formidable  proportions.  In 
other  words,  the  railroads  opened  up  the  country  to  prac- 
tically immediate  control  from  the  capital. 

The  methods  of  government  followed  by  General  Diaz 
were  in  every  respect  those  of  a  dictator.  He  had  absolute 
control  of  all  the  details  of  government,  appointed  his  own 
cabinet  and  officials,  even  directing  who  should  be  governors 
of  the  various  states  of  the  Republic.  He  also  had  complete 
control  of  congress,  whose  duties  for  a  long  time  were  merely 
nominal.     He  and  his  cabinet  arranged  the  various  matters 


THE   MEXICAN   SITUATION  87 

which  came  up  for  consideration,  and  when  they  required 
the  approval  of  congress,  they  were  sent  to  it  and  approval 
was  given  in  due  course.  As  an  illustration  of  this,  my 
associates  and  myself  wished  a  concession  for  building  a  rail- 
road near  the  capital;  through  our  attorneys  we  arranged 
all  the  details  with  the  President  and  cabinet  and  then  left 
the  matter  in  their  hands.  The  concession  required  the 
approval  of  congress  which  was  then  in  session;  there  was 
only  just  time  to  have  it  take  its  regular  course  before  con- 
gress adjourned.  We  paid  no  further  attention  to  it,  but  it 
was  put  before  congress  and  approved  at  the  last  effective 
moment. 

Had  he  been  other  than  the  man  he  was,  of  course,  one 
can  readily  see  what  this  condition  would  have  led  the 
country  into,  but,  being  as  he  was,  a  patriotic  man,  devot- 
ing his  life  to  his  country,  and  working  in  every  way  for  its 
development,  he  handled  this  great  power  with  so  much 
wisdom  and  discretion  as  to  bring  about  the  results  which 
were  achieved. 

Of  course,  many  things  were  done  by  him  and  under  his 
administration  that  did  not  meet  with  the  approval  of  some 
of  his  people.  The  church  influence  in  the  government, 
whicli  formerly  had  been  paramount,  was  entirely  sub- 
dued by  him  and  was  in  no  way  recognized,  and  for  many 
years  no  one  dare  to  oppose  him  with  any  hope  of  success. 
In  fact,  the  people  believed  in  him  so  strongly  and  his  power 
and  influence  were  so  great  that  no  effort  at  opposition  was 
made.  However,  there  was  always  an  element,  whicli 
though  latent  and  quiet  was  powerful,  and  which  was  con- 
stantly on  the  lookout  for  a  chance  to  assert  itself.  There 
was  also  an  undercurrent  of  feeling  of  discontent  and  unrest 
on  the  part  of  other  factions,  which  will  always  prevail  in 
a  countr>'  like  Mexico,  and  under  conditions  existing  tliere, 
and  in  fact  in  any  country,  which  wished  to  get  control  of 
the  government  for  purposes  for  their  own  good  or  bad  as 
the  case  might  be.  These  various  elements  worked  quietly 
over  their  object  and  waited  a  time  when  they  could  assert 
themselves. 

General  Diaz  was  probably  fully  aware  of  what  was  going 


88  S.    W.    REYNOLDS 

on,  but  having  exercised  his  power  and  control  so  long,  he 
probably  felt  himself  amply  able  to  control  and  subdue  what- 
ever opposition  might  arise,  but  he  was  getting  on  in  years, 
he  was  more  anxious  to  maintain  peace  and  give  the  country 
a  chance  to  develop  into  a  position  where  the  full  condi- 
tions and  development  of  a  republican  form  of  government 
could  be  maintained  and  so  let  up  on  that  tense  hold  which 
he  had  had,  with  the  consequence  that  the  various  oppos- 
ing factions  had  a  chance  to  gain  strength  and  prepare  to 
assert  their  opposition  to  him. 

For  a  long  time  he  was  anxious  to  resign  from  the  Presi- 
dency and  take  a  rest  which  he  felt  he  so  richly  had  earned, 
but  he  was  always  afraid  that  conditions  were  not  ripe  for 
his  retirement,  and  he  was  doubtful  of  what  might  follow. 

The  constitution  of  the  country  made  no  provision  for  a 
vice-President,  but  in  1904  the  constitution  was  altered, 
providing  for  one.  Some  time  before  he  had  brought  from 
the  State  of  Sonora,  Ramon  Coral,  formerly  governor  of  that 
state,  and  made  him  governor  of  the  Federal  District  (corre- 
sponding to  our  District  of  Columbia),  later  a  member 
of  his  cabinet,  and  finally  vice-President.  This  was  with  the 
ultimate  object  of  having  him  become  President,  but  as 
conditions  developed  Coral  did  not  seem  to  be  the  man  for 
the  place,  and  General  Diaz  did  not  dare  to  have  him  suc- 
ceed him.  Other  men  in  the  cabinet  and  outside  were  also 
considered,  but  none  seemed  to  come  up  to  the  full  require- 
ments. Consequently,  General  Diaz  held  on,  but  as  often 
happens  in  such  cases,  he  held  on  too  long.  Had  he  given 
up  several  years  before,  and  before  the  elements  opposing 
him  had  become  so  strong,  and  been  succeeded  by  someone 
whom  there  is  no  doubt  he  could  have  placed  in  power,  who 
while  probably  not  fully  satisfactory  to  all  elements,  would 
have  continued  the  Diaz  policies,  backed  up  by  the  aid 
General  Diaz  could  have  given  him,  the  overturn  which 
took  place  would  not  have  occurred. 

In  the  meantime  the  different  opposing  elements  had  been 
gaining  strength  and  later  became  united  under  Madero. 
Had  General  Diaz  recognized  Madero's  strength  and  treated 
with  him,  probably  on  a  show  of  strength  between  the  two, 


THE    MEXICAN   SITUATION  89 

Diaz  would  have  prevailed,  but  instead  Diaz  attempted  to 
suppres.s  Madero  in  a  way  that  finally  became  persecution, 
which  resulted  in  increasing  Madero's  strength  so  that  he 
was  able  finally  to  force  Diaz  to  resign,  which  he  did  on  May 
25,  1911. 

Madero's  claim  to  leadership  came  from  his  opposition 
to  the  previous  policies  and  administration  of  the  govern- 
ment, and  his  promises  if  in  power  to  reform  the  evils  which 
he  claimed  existed  and  to  give  his  country  a  government  filling 
all  the  requirements  and  advantages  of  a  republic.  His 
promises  were  liberal  and  naturally  the  people  felt  that  the 
change  meant  what  they  might  term  reformation.  Madero 
claimed  that  he  did  not  wish  to  become  President,  unless 
by  a  regular  constitutional  election.  Consequently  Fran- 
cisco Leon  de  la  Barra  was  appointed  provisional  President 
May  25,  1911,  and  held  the  oflfice  until  the  constitutional 
election  took  place  which  made  Madero  President. 

It  was  my  good  fortune  to  know  General  Diaz  personally, 
as  well  as  every  member  of  his  earlier  cabinets.  After  he 
had  weeded  out  from  time  to  time  from  the  members  of  his 
cabinet,  the  last  being  Romero  Rubio,  his  father-in-law,  the 
men  who  had  not  entirely  broken  away  from  the  old  condi- 
tions of  graft,  etc.,  which  formerly  prevailed  there,  I  believe 
its  members  to  have  been  men  of  honesty,  integrity,  of  high 
character,  and  devoted  to  their  country,  men  who  had  the 
best  interests  of  their  country  at  heart  and  who  worked  to 
attain  the  greatest  good.  Of  course,  some  will  disagree  with 
me  in  this,  but  I  am  looking  at  the  whole  subject  in  its 
broadest  sense  and  based  on  my  personal  knowledge  of  the 
men,  and  while  many  mistakes  were  made  as  there  always 
will  by  whoever  may  be  in  power,  still  considering  every- 
thing it  is  doubtful  if  any  set  of  men  could  have  been  in 
power  in  such  a  country  who  would  have  brought  about 
such  satisfactory'  results. 

The  administration  of  government  as  carried  on  by  and 
under  General  Diaz  was  that  which  I  believe  was  best 
adapted  to  secure  the  development  which  he  was  carrj'ing 
on,  in  the  most  simple  and  effective  way.  If  one  had  deal- 
ings with  the  govenmient,  he  could  go  directly  to  the  proper 


90  S.    W.    REYNOLDS 

official  and  secure  immediate  and  direct  consideration  for 
what  he  had  to  offer.  This  meant  that  the  way  was  easy 
and  simple  to  do  business  with  the  government  and  did 
away  with  the  great  amount  of  red  tape  which  is  usually  so 
prominent  in  connection  with  government  affairs.  And  in 
this  connection  one  must  consider  that  the  people  in  Mexico 
are  no  more  like  ourselves,  naturally,  that  the  people  of 
France,  Germany,  Spain,  China,  Japan,  or  any  other  for- 
eign nation,  and  we  must  consider  their  temperament, 
methods  of  life,  and  of  business,  their  past  histor\',  and 
their  personal  characteristics  in  thinking  of  and  in  dealing 
with  them.  We  would  not  think  of  going  to  Japan  or  Ger- 
many or  Spain  and  finding  conditions  or  people  as  we  do  in 
the  United  States,  nor  would  we  expect  to  reform  or  change 
their  life  and  habits  to  conform  to  our  own. 

In  our  early  experience  in  Mexico,  we  found  many  things 
different  and  we  thought  much  inferior  to  our  own,  and  we 
set  about  trying  to  reform  them,  but  we  soon  found  that 
their  life,  customs  and  ways  were  based  upon  a  longer  ex- 
perience of  their  peculiar  natural  conditions  than  our  own, 
and  we  soon  concluded  that  it  was  much  better  to  graft 
the  best  of  ours  with  the  best  of  theirs  with  the  result  that 
we  both  secured  a  lasting  good. 

It  was  my  pleasure  and  privilege  to  know  Mr.  de  la  Barra 
personally,  and  no  one  can  be  found  of  higher  character, 
more  gentlemanly  characteristics,  and  I  think  more  honest 
and  faithful  than  he.  He  is  not,  however,  a  forceful  man, 
and  probably  could  not  handle  a  government  passing 
through  a  condition  of  conflict  such  as  at  present  exists,  but 
as  an  administrator  and  executive  he  was  highly  efficient  and 
successful. 

I  was  also  personally  acquainted  with  some  of  the  members 
of  President  de  la  Barra's  cabinet,  and  have  a  very  high 
opinion  of  them. 

President  Madero,  I  did  not  know  personally,  but  from 
what  I  have  heard  about  him,  he  appears  to  have  been  a 
man  of  high  ideals  and  a  certain  amount  of  patriotism,  but 
without  the  other  qualities  necessary  to  make  a  successful 
ruler. 


THE   MEXICAN   SITUATION  91 

He  made  many  promises  before  he  came  into  power,  he 
proclaimed  all  the  deficiencies  of  the  previous  administra- 
tion and  promised  reforms  in  them  all,  but  he  was  weak  in 
many  ways,  and  was  unable  to  command  the  sui)port 
necessary  to  carry  through  his  reforms.  In  fact,  he  showed 
many  of  the  common  defects  of  men  of  his  calibre,  nepotism 
being  one  of  the  most  prominent.  He  soon  learned  what 
the  temperament  and  disposition  of  his  people  were  and  what 
General  Diaz  had  to  contend  with  in  holding  them  in  sub- 
jection, for  elements  which  were  disturbing,  when  he  was 
fomenting  rebellion,  continued  to  be  disturbing  and  he  had 
them  to  contend  with  as  Diaz  previously  had  with  him,  and 
they  finally  compassed  his  overthrow. 

He  took  the  government  under  generally  peaceful  con- 
ditions and  with  a  full  treasury-,  he  left  it  in  unrest  and  in 
poverty.  He  diposed  Diaz,  and  was  in  turn  deposed  by 
Huerta  and  Felix  Diaz. 

Some  time  in  the  future  Mexico  may  attain  a  position 
where  such  methods  as  Madero  followed  may  be  successful 
but  the  time  for  that  is  not  now.  His  career  is  a  forceful 
illustration  of  the  result  of  promises  made  when  power  is 
sought  for,  which  are  not  carried  out  when  one  has  the 
power  to  perform. 

The  success  of  General  Diaz  and  his  methods  indicate 
strongly  that  the  kind  of  a  government  which  he  gave  is 
what  Mexico  must  have  for  some  time  to  come.  It  has  been 
my  own  personal  opinion  since  General  Diaz  was  deposed 
that  the  countrj""  must  be  returned  to  his  kind  of  a  govern- 
ment before  peace  and  progress  will  be  resumed.  The  fact 
is  not  only  is  there  a  rebellion  against  the  central  govern- 
ment, but  the  rebels  are  divided  into  many  bands  under 
separate  leaders,  bandits  in  reality,  none  of  which  have  any 
standing  as  a  separate  government;  one  only  having  a  cen- 
ter or  head  of  sufficient  importance  to  be  recognized  as  a 
power,  and  if  ever  an  attempt  was  marie  to  recognize  a 
belligorant  power,  the  recognition  of  one  or  more  would  not 
include  all,  nor  would  it  bring  them  all  under  one  control, 
it  would  simply  mean  a  faction  with  other  factions  still 
to  deal  with. 


92  S.    W.    REYNOLDS 

Realizing  all  this,  does  it  not  seem  as  if  the  Diaz  policy 
must  be  revived  and  an  element  control  the  government 
which  shall  be  in  a  great  manner  dictatorial  and  coercive 
until  the  different  elements  can  all  be  brought  under  con- 
trol? 

General  Diaz  went  a  long  way  in  bringing  his  people  up 
to  a  proper  standard,  they  ought  to  see  that  they  have  not 
yet  attained  the  position  where  popular  government  can  be 
maintained,  but  with  another  such  period  of  progress  under 
control  they  may  reach  the  point  where  full  constitutional 
republican  self-government  can  be  maintained. 

The  great  question  today  is  whether  Huerta  is  the  man  to 
reestablish  that  method  of  government.  He  has  had  no 
chance  to  show  what  he  can  do,  for  he  has  been  handicapped 
for  the  most  of  the  time  since  he  came  into  power  by  tne 
attitude  of  our  own  government  toward  him,  which,  while 
seeking  to  have  him  attain  certain  results,  seems  to  throw 
every  impediment  it  can  in  the  vfSiy  of  his  attaining  them. 

The  difficulty  in  considering  the  present  question  of  the 
relations  between  our  government  and  that  of  Mexico,  is 
that  we  know  practically  nothing  of  what  is  going  on.  Our 
daily  press  contain  voluminous  articles  which  today  make 
assertions  of  almost  positive  definiteness,  which  are  to- 
morrow contradicted,  leaving  us  with  no  distinct,  actual 
knowledge,  but  sifting  what  we  hear  as  best  we  may,  the  con- 
clusion seems  to  be  that  our  administration  has  taken  a 
positive  position  of  suppression  of  the  Huerta  administra- 
tion and  that  nothing  that  Huerta  can  do,  or  anything  that 
can  be  done  there  short  of  his  annihilation,  will  have  Presi- 
dent Wilson's  support  or  approval.  Of  the  wisdom  of  this 
position  there  are  varied  opinions,  and  it  may  be  fair  to 
withhold  open  condemnation  or  approval  or  even  open  dis- 
cussion, until  we  know  just  what  his  policy  and  position  is 
to  be. 

The  situation  is  very  grave,  for  we  will  be  held  responsi- 
ble for  the  protection  of  the  lives  and  property  of  foreign 
subjects,  as  well  as  our  own,  and  the  considerations  involved 
are  too  important  to  be  trifled  with.  Our  own  people  have 
a  right  to  the  protection  of  their  interests  in  that  country, 


THE   MEXICAN   SITUATION  93 

and  they  are  entitled  to  know  if  they  will  have  such  pro- 
tection. 

General  Huerta  seems  to  have  some  of  the  qualifications 
which  I  believe  necessary  to  bring  peace  to  Mexico,  but  he 
cannot  accomplish  much  with  the  decided  opposition  of  the 
United  States.  There  are  many  objections  to  be  made  to 
the  methods  which  Huerta  has  followed,  but  the  people  of 
this  country  should  recognize  what  Mexico  and  its  people 
are.  They  are  not  like  ourselves,  their  temperament  and  con- 
ditions, their  previous  government,  the  revolutions  through 
which  they  have  passed,  and  many  of  their  ideals  are  en- 
tirely different  from  our  own. 

In  an  attempt  to  rehabilitate  that  country,  I  do  not 
think  we  can  safely  assert  what  we  would  like  to  have  them 
be,  but  we  must  start  with  a  condition  and  not  with  a  theory. 
If  instead  of  trying  to  force  them  into  a  condition  such  as  we 
would  like,  we  take  them  as  they  are  and  endeavor  to  have 
them  follow  along  lines  which  we  believe  to  be  in  accordance 
with  our  ideas  of  the  relationship  of  the  United  States  to 
the  Latin-American  republics,  we  can  hope  for  a  very 
marked  success  and  probably  an  adjustment  of  the  whole 
existing  condition,  but  if  we  try  to  assume  that  they  must 
be  as  we  want  at  the  start,  and  then  expect  them  to  follow 
along  lines  which  we  may  lay  down,  I  think  we  will  have  great 
difficulty  in  bringing  this  about. 

It  seems  rather  a  strong  position  for  our  government  to 
take  that  they  shall  dictate  to  the  head  of  another  govern- 
ment who  is  in  power  and  is  the  present  provisional  Presi- 
dent of  that  countrj',  what  he  shall  do  and  what  he  shall 
not  do,  without  giving  better  reasons  than  have  yet  been 
given.  We  are  not  taken  into  the  confidence  of  our  govern- 
ment, and,  consequently,  are  unable  to  judge  of  its  policy, 
if  it  has  one,  and  what  it  is  aiming  to  do. 

We  are  quite  aware  that  the  government  must  of  neces- 
sity keep  much  of  its  negotiations  to  itself,  but  it  does  seem 
as  if  more  might  be  said  to  our  people,  who  have  vast  sums  of 
money  invested  in  Mexico,  and  who  are  anxiously  waiting 
to  see  what  policy  our  government  is  to  pursue,  if  it  has  a 
policy,  in  order  to  adjust  their  own  affairs. 


94  S.    W.    REYNOLDS 

The  people  of  our  country  have,  I  think,  an  entirely  er- 
roneous and  unjust  opinion  of  the  people  of  Mexico.  While 
they  are  unlike  us  in  many  ways,  my  own  experience  has 
found  them  to  be  in  the  main,  that  is,  among  the  business 
people,  of  high  character  and  integrity,  fair  and  just  in 
their  dealings,  and  without  those  barbarous  and  inhuman 
proclivities  that  so  many  are  apt  to  attribute  to  them. 

The  situation  can  be  settled,  and  settled  with  reasonable 
promptness,  but  it  must  be  done  with  full  consideration  for 
Mexico,  and  with  a  full  understanding  of  its  people. 


DEMOCRACY  ON  TRIAL 

By  John  HowJand,  D.D.,  President  of  Colegio  Inter- 
nadonal,  Guadalajara,  Mexico 

In  the  opinion  of  some  students  of  history,  democracy  is 
but  one  stage  in  the  invariable  and  inescapable  cycle  of  po- 
litical growth:  autocracy,  constitutional  monarchy,  oli- 
garchy, democracy,  and  anarchy  leading  back  to  absolutism; 
the  only  possible  variation  being  the  length  of  the  different 
periods,  which  will  be  dependent  on  special  local  conditions. 
Others,  while  not  attempting  to  elude  or  minimize  the  his- 
torical testimony,  would  affirm  that  the  lapse  from  democ- 
racy to  an  anarchy  which  finds  its  remedy  only  by  a  return 
to  absolutism  is  by  no  means  a  necessity,  but  simply  an  acci- 
dent, owing  to  defective  conditions  in  previous  stages;  and 
that,  at  the  worst,  the  movement  is  not  a  cycle  but  an  as- 
cending spiral  in  which  the  former  stage  is  simply  approached 
but  at  a  much  higher  level,  having  eliminated  much  that 
held  it  down  and  back,  carr}'ing  with  it  much  of  the  good  it 
has  won  out  of  the  past  and  ever  approaching  more  and  more 
the  straight  tangent  which  will  be  the  perfect  and  permanent 
democracy.  Under  ever>'  system  since  men  first  congre- 
gated, the  strong  have  ruled  the  weak;  but  side  by  side  with 
the  rude  fact  of  power  have  grown  the  ideals  of  fellowship 
and  justice,  and  these  have  helped  to  correct  the  inequality 
and  injustice  which  condition  human  life. 

The  stniggle  has  been  two-fold:  to  limit  more  and  more 
the  power  of  the  ruler,  and  to  introduce  a  larger  and  more 
effective  participation  of  the  people  in  public  affairs.  Hence 
we  find  two  conceptions  of  democracy,  not  mutually  exclusive 
but  still  fundamentally  distinct:  the  one  based  on  social 
equality,  and  the  other  the  simple  vesting  of  power  in  the 
people.  The  fonner  is  undoubtedly  the  most  frequently 
entertained:  and  the  cr>'  of  "Liberty,  Fraternity,  Equality, " 
is  the  one  which  fiiids  the  quickest  and  most  ardent  response 

95 


96  JOHN   ROWLAND 

in  the  sympathies  of  the  people.  Not  only  is  it  the  more 
popular,  but  doubtless  it  must  be  conceded  to  occupy  a 
higher  moral  plane,  for  the  latter  tends  to  lead  to  the  former; 
that  is,  the  vesting  of  power  in  all  should  result  in  the  mini- 
mizing, if  not  in  the  obliteration,  of  all  degrading  or  oppres- 
sive inequalities.  No  country  can  attain  real  and  permanent 
progress  as  long  as  any  class,  be  it  high  or  low,  fails  through 
ignorance  or  indifference  to  respond  to  the  call  of  patriotism, 
whether  that  call  be  to  the  field  of  battle  or  to  the  quieter  but 
more  strenuous  struggle  for  the  attainment  of  individual 
perfection  and  the  fulfilment  of  personal  obligations. 

In  the  republics  of  ancient  times  and  in  most  of  those  of 
the  present,  the  adoption  of  democracy  was  a  transition  from 
a  previous  condition,  so  that  the  republican  form  had  to  be 
superimposed  on  elements  that  were  more  or  less  refractory. 
The  United  States  has  the  unique  position  of  being  a  repub- 
lic in  which  the  general  character  of  its  government  was  pre- 
pared before  the  nation  came  into  being.  The  determina- 
tive element  in  the  formation  of  the  new  race  was  a  group  of 
the  descendants  of  those  who  had  already  fought  valiantly 
for  liberty  and  wrested  successive  concessions  from  the  re- 
luctant crown.  When  mdependence  was  secured  for  the 
English  colonies,  they  had  only  to  formulate  and  publish  the 
principles  that  had  already  actuated  them  from  the  first. 
So,  naturally,  the  new  republic  moved  forward  with  scarcely 
a  jar  or  tremor  in  its  course. 

This  difference  of  origin  is  often  overlooked  in  judging  the 
progress  and  attainment  of  other  republics.  Because  they 
do  not  correspond  in  ever^'  detail  to  the  form  that  the  United 
States  has  elaborated,  they  are  considered  defective  or  abnor- 
mal. It  is  easy  to  forget  that  a  republican  form  of  govern- 
ment furnishes  no  guarantee  against  tyrannj-  and  that  a 
monarchy  is  not  inconsistent  with  a  high  degree  of  political 
freedom.  The  writer  of  the  article  on  democracy  in  the 
Encyclopedia  Britannica  does  not  hesitate  to  claim  that  Great 
Britain  is  the  best  type  extant  of  a  true  democracy  and  that 
from  her  have  come  the  ideals  that  have  led  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  republics,  though  none  of  them  have  attained 
to  the  height  of  the  parent  country.     He  calls  the  French 


DEMOCRACY    ON   TRIAL  97 

Republic  "bureaucratic, "and  those  in  Latin  America  "des- 
potic. "  Cavour  in  Piedmont,  working  for  the  freedom  and 
unity  of  Italy,  deliberately  rejected  the  republican  form  and 
labored  for  a  constitutional  monarchy,  established  by  the 
cooperation  of  France.  He  did  this  at  the  cost  of  losing; 
the  cooperation  and  even  of  encountering  the  fanatical  op- 
position of  Mazzini  and  other  Italian  patriots,  but  the  result 
would  seem  to  have  fully  justified  his  views. 

With  nations  as  with  indi\'iduals  there  must  be  a  reckoning 
with  inlierited  tendencies  and  characteristics.  Latin  Ameri- 
can republics  were  originally  colonial  dependencies.  They 
were  not  colonies  founded,  as  was  the  great  republic  of  the 
north,  by  men  who  fled  from  oppression  to  seek  greater  free- 
dom in  a  wilderness:  but  by  those  who  were  sent  out  to 
exploit  new  lands  for  the  benefit  of  the  crown.  The  only 
examples  they  had  of  government  were,  in  most  cases,  mark- 
ed by  greed,  graft,  favoritism,  and  an  utter  disregard  for  the 
welfare  of  the  colonies  themselves.  The  democratic  idea  of 
rulers  chosen  by  the  people,  responsible  to  the  people,  and 
administering  the  government  with  disinterested  devotion  to 
the  welfare  of  the  people,  was  practically  unknown  among 
them.  WTiat  wonder,  then,  that  office  should  have  been 
sought  not  for  the  opportunity  for  service,  for  the  honor, 
nor  even  for  the  salary,  but  mainly  for  the  openings  it 
offered  for  personal  enriclmient.  It  is  always  hard  to  break 
with  hoary  traditions;  and  even  when  they  have  been  cast 
off,  their  influence  often  persists  for  an  indefinite  time. 

It  would  not  be  easy  to  find  a  greater  contrast  than  that 
which  exists  between  a  feudal  system  and  a  tnie  democracy ; 
and  the  existence  of  greatly  concentrated  wealth  or  extreme 
poverty,  of  privileges  of  birth  or  of  ecclesiastical  position, 
must  always  be  a  menancc  to  reiniblican  institutions.  But 
these  conditions  had  been  brought  from  Europe  and  firmly 
implanted  on  American  soil  and  had  to  be  taken  into  account 
by  the  new-boni  republic  which  sprang  up  under  the  influence 
of  that  wave  of  sentiment  which,  during  the  first  half  of  the 
last  centur>',  threatened  all  thrones,  even  the  most  firmly 
established  ones  of  Europe.  Where  these  things  exist,  even 
as  a  memory  or  as  a  wish,  they  are  sure  sooner  or  later  to 


98  JOHN   ROWLAND 

come  into  conflict  with  a  democratic  form  of  government 
and  some  way  of  adjustment  must  be  found  or  the  govern- 
ment will  be  overthrown. 

Racial  prejudice  wields  a  mighty  influence  in  the  opinion 
peoples  form  of  each  other.     It  has  been  well  said  that  "The 
portrait  that  one  nation  paints  of  another  is  likely  to  appear 
a  libel  or  a  caricature  to  the  sitter."     It  is  not,  however, 
mere  prejudice;  for  each  race  has  its  own  peculiarities.     The 
Saxon  is  phlegmatic,  reflective,  patient  of  delay,  willing  to 
wait   for   the  slow  processes   of  human   experience.     The 
Latin  blood  is  fer\'id,  and  quickly  boils  at  meeting  opposition. 
The  Saxon  patriot  wages  his  warfare  and  bides  his  time,  con- 
fident that  he  is  aligned  on  the  side  of  truth  and  justice,  and 
that  these  are  destined  to  triumph  at  the  last,  however  much 
they  may  be  sidetracked,  misrepresented  or  perverted  for 
a  time.     If  the  partj^  of  opposition  wins  an  election,  he 
watches  those  thus  chosen  to  arrest  every  false  or  devious  step 
with  the  machinery  of  the  law,  and  even  when  this  fails,  he 
sets  himself  to  use  the  legal  remed}' — the  election  of  cleaner 
executives  and  a  more  upright  judiciar5^     He  realizes  that  a 
people  has  only  the  government  that  it  chooses,  or  at  least 
consents  to  have;  so  that,  to  reform  abuses  or  correct  errors, 
it  is  necessary-  to  educate  public  opinion  or  awaken  public 
sentiment.     He  knows  that  victory  obtained  otherwise  will 
be  specious,  momentary',  and  finally  delusive.      The  Latin- 
American,  with  his  more  vi\dd  imagination,  sees  only  final 
ruin  in  everything  that  delays,  diverts  or  defeats  that  for 
which  he  is  laboring.     He  expects  all  to  see  things  from  his 
point  of  view  and  with  the  same  enthusiasm.     He  is  impa- 
tient of  the  process  of  slowly,  methodically  and  persistently 
shaping  the  opinions  of  his  compatriots.     As  in  his  personal 
difficulties  he  is  quick  to  have  recourse  to  the  poniard,  so  in 
his  political  disappointments  he  trusts  more  naturally  to  an 
appeal  to  arms  than  to  a  prolonged  campaign  for  subsequent 
elections.     Instead  of  the  joy  that  his  impassive  Saxon  neigh- 
bor feels  in  carrying  on  a  prolonged  struggle  for  some  princi- 
ple, he  enters  the  contest  with  boundless  enthusiasm,  but  if 
not  inmiediately  successful,  easily  relapses  into  complete  dis- 
couragement or  lets  his  disappointment  degenerate  into  a 


DEMOCRACY   ON   TRIAL  99 

personal  feud  against  his  political  opponent.  The  Saxon, 
from  his  boyhood,  is  trained  even  in  his  play,  in  "team  work," 
the  spirit  of  cooperation  which  seeks  union  on  common  prin- 
ciples and  purposes  and  with  ease  passes  over  personal  pref- 
erences and  slights  in  pursuance  of  the  greater  good.  The 
Latin  is  more  personal ;  ever>'one  for  himself.  If  he  can  not 
carry  his  point,  he  may  yield  with  more  or  less  of  grace  to 
another;  but  finds  it  difficult  to  combine  or  cooperate  with 
that  other.  The  difference  is  seen  very  markedly  in  com- 
mercial enterprises.  Among  Saxons  combination  has  reached 
such  limits  and  attained  such  colossal  success  as  to  seriously 
menace  the  stability  of  governments  and  the  well-being  of 
the  common  people.  Commercial  combinations  among  the 
Latins  are  apt  to  be  of  short  duration.  Their  traditions 
and  tastes  point  rather  to  the  building  up  of  a  "house," 
where  there  shall  be  one  dominant  name  and  interest,  and  all 
the  rest  subservient  to  that. 

History  shows  that  political  greatness  and  permanence 
must  ever  depend  on  well  distributed  economic  and  indus- 
trial development.  The  granting  of  great  concessions  and 
subsidies  to  powerful  companies  is  beneficial  in  a  way,  be- 
cause it  develops  resources  hitherto  unproductive:  but  it 
easily  becomes  a  menace  to  the  real  prosperity  of  a  nation  in 
more  ways  than  one.  Frequently,  if  not  usually,  such  con- 
cessions are  given  to  foreigners,  so  that  most  of  the  gain  is 
taken  out  of  the  country  in  which  it  is  produced  and  then,  too, 
international  complications  are  liable  to  come  up  at  any 
time.  Such  concessions  also  discourage  competition  and  the 
wider  development  of  national  resources.  Life  comes  from 
the  ground,  and  only  as  agriculture  is  extended,  improved 
anil  put  into  the  hands  of  the  greatest  possible  number  can 
a  nation  hope  for  lasting  prosperity.  Ways  must  be  found 
for  the  avoidance  of  or  the  breaking  up  of  excessively  large 
estates,  but  this  is  worse  than  useless  unless  the  small  owner 
is  educated  and  protected,  so  that  he  will  not  lose  through 
lack  of  thrift,  wisdom,  or  legal  security  what  he  may  have 
acquired.  Every  citizen  who  owns  no  taxable  property  is  a 
menance  to  the  state.  Usually,  his  impecunious  situation 
reveals  a  lack  of  inteUigence,  sobriety,  or  willingness  to  work, 


100  JOHN  HOWLAND 

which  in  themselves  make  him  a  source  of  danger;  and  his 
poverty  makes  him  an  easy  prey  to  the  demagogue,  the 
pohtician  or  the  revolutionist.  In  the  colonization  of  the 
northern  republic  the  character  of  the  country  and  the  tradi- 
tions of  the  greater  part  of  the  colonists  favored  small  hold- 
ings of  land  and  the  development  of  rural  communities.  To 
the  south,  conditions  were  different:  large  grants  of  land 
were  made  to  individuals,  and  wealthy  investors  bought  ex- 
tensive tracts,  thus  making  competition  by  a  small  proprietor 
difliicult  if  not  impossible.  Climatic  and  territorial  condi- 
tions make  it  necessary  to  undertake  expensive  projects  of 
irrigation,  far  beyond  the  possibilities  of  the  man  of  moderate 
means.  Lack  of  transportation  also  puts  the  small  producer 
at  the  mercy  of  the  wholesale  dealer  who  can  afford  to  wait 
for  months  or  years  to  realize  his  profits.  The  traditional 
method  of  holding  land  by  Latin  peoples  of  limited  resources 
was  the  community  system.  This  trained  the  indigenous 
population  in  an  easy-going  lack  of  anxiety  for  the  future, 
and  checked  all  their  ambition.  The  family  could  not  lose 
its  right  to  tillage,  pasture,  and  wood;  nor  could  anyone  ac- 
quire a  largely  greater  wealth  than  others  because  all  had 
equal  rights.  Experience  has  shown  that  the  result  of  the 
breaking  up  of  these  ancient  communities  is  that  land  sharks 
secure  the  titles  to  the  larger  part  of  them,  as  the  former 
holders  have  had  no  training  in  that  jealous  protectio.i  of 
their  real  estate  from  all  encumbrance  or  danger  of  loss,  which 
is  the  secret  of  the  existence  of  an  extensive  and  intelligent 
rural  population. 

The  security  of  a  democracy  will  always  be  proportional 
to  the  extent  of  the  intelligent  participation  of  all  of  its  citi- 
zens. There  may  be  a  stage  of  transition,  more  or  less  pro- 
longed, in  which  the  intelligent  few  may  govern  the  acquies- 
cing but  ignorant  masses,  or  as  it  has  been  expressed  **a 
majority  of  brains  ruling  a  majority  as  counted  by  noses," 
but  such  a  condition  is  always  fraught  with  danger  and  must 
be  finally  disastrous  unless  steady  progress  is  made  towards 
the  education  of  all  the  people.  Extreme  poverty  that 
results  in  practical  serfdom  and  lack  of  aspiration  that  leaves 
the  masses  of  the  people  illiterate,  furnish  a  serious  problem 


DEMOCRACY   ON   TRIAL  101 

for  any  pro{]^essive  government,  but  especially  for  those 
that  aim  toward  the  democratic  form.  There  is  always  the 
danger  that  the  high  ideal  of  democracy  become  a  simple 
fetich,  that  the  ideal  degenerate  into  the  idol.  Academic 
education  is  not  sufficient.  In  a  race  that  is  gifted  with  a 
vivid  imagination  and  which  never  lacks  for  words  in  which 
to  voice  its  thoughts,  there  is  always  the  danger  that  the 
appeal  will  be  to  the  passions  and  that  the  thrill  it  produces 
will  be  a  kind  of  intoxication  that  is  irrevocably  followed  by  a 
depressing  and  degrading  reaction,  instead  of  leading  to  more 
intelligent  and  resolute  action.  Popular  education,  to  be 
sane,  must  "speak  directly  to  the  reason,  enlighten,  kindle, 
free  and  teach  how  strength  of  soul  may  show  itself  in  sane 
acts."  It  has  been  said  that  the  individual  that  ceases  to 
react  to  the  facts  of  life  is  to  be  judged  insane.  Measured 
by  such  a  standard,  many  republics  have  to  reckon  with 
a  large  insane  element  which  constitutes  a  grave  danger. 
Centuries  ago,  Plato  affirmed  that  rational  discussion  was  the 
only  protection  against  errors  and  untested  ideas;  but  the 
abilitj''  to  calmly  define  terms,  analyze  and  clearly  state  one's 
own  opinions  and  those  that  differ  from  ours,  see  and  show 
the  logical  coherence  of  the  one  and  the  real  defects  of  the 
other,  comes  only  by  study  and  experience.  Till  it  is  ac- 
quired, there  will  always  be  dissension  and  turmoil  instead 
of  union  and  progress. 

Having  noted  some  of  the  more  important  points  of  dif- 
ference in  the  conditions  under  which  the  Anglo-Saxon  and 
the  Latin-American  races  have  attempted  to  carry  out  demo- 
cratic principles,  it  remains  only  to  be  affirmed  that,  variant 
as  the  results  may  seem,  they  all  point  in  the  same  direction. 
Divergencies  and  discrepancies  arc  not  necessarily  failures 
nor  defects,  they  may  be  simple  stages  in  a  conflict  with 
diverse  conditions. 

In  South  America,  the  three  largest  republics  have  attained 
a  good  degree  of  stability,  combined  with  a  steady  increase 
of  true  democracy.  They  seem  to  be  at  least  approaching 
the  final  solution  of  their  most  serious  problems. 

In  Mexico,  a  countrj-  that  holds  the  attention  of  the  world 
today,  even  during  the  first  half  centur}'  of  her  independence 


.102  JOHN   HOWLAND 

which  was  marked  with  strife  and  confusion,  many  problems 
were  worked  out  and  an  excellent  constitution  and  code  of 
reform  laws  adopted.  The  thirty-four  years  of  absolutism 
under  Diaz  was  not,  bj"-  any  means,  a  complete  relapse.  By 
covering  the  country  with  a  network  of  railroads  and  tele- 
graph the  land  was  unified  and  preparation  was  made  for  a 
greater  development  of  its  many  natural  resources;  the 
national  credit  was  restored  and  carried  forward  to  an  envia- 
ble position;  considerable  advance  was  made  in  the  line  of 
economic  and  industrial  enlargement;  illiteracy  was  sensibly 
diminished ;  and  the  people  were  made  familiar  with  at  least 
the  forms  of  law.  It  is  to  be  deplored  that,  during  that  time, 
office  was  made  a  matter  of  official  favoritism  rather  than  of 
popular  choice;  graft  was  unchecked;  the  poor  were  taught 
little  of  either  letters  or  morals ;  confidence  in  legal  processes 
for  the  righting  of  wrongs  was  well  nigh  destroyed,  and  loy- 
alty to  the  existing  government  as  an  essential  element  of 
true  patriotism  was  almost  unknown.  When  to  all  this  is 
added  the  fact  that  by  the  revolution  the  worst  instincts  of 
the  most  vicious  elements  of  society  were  awakened  and 
battened  by  the  looting  of  cities  and  farms,  the  only  cause  for 
wonder  is  that  the  confusion  was  not  greater  when  the  iron 
hand  was  suddenly  relaxed  and  withdrawn.  Unfortunately, 
the  man  who  had  the  faith  and  the  courage  to  initiate  the 
revolution  and  who  came  into  power  on  the  crest  of  an  im- 
mense wave  of  popular  enthusiasm  was  pitiably  lacking  in 
the  qualities  that  were  necessary  for  meeting  the  situation, 
and  was  carried  down  in  the  vortex  whose  destructiveness  his 
efforts  only  seemed  to  increase.  The  tragedy  of  his  removal 
increased  the  disturbance.  To  the  already  numerous  groups 
of  bandits  were  added  new  bands,  some  of  whom  are  doubt- 
less moved  by  the  instinct  of  patriotism  to  resist  the  govern- 
ment. To  an  empty  treasury;  to  the  depredation  of  lawless 
bands  that  avail  themselves  of  mountain  fastnesses  and  great 
stretches  of  nearly  impassable  desert  and  not  merely  take  for 
themselves  money,  food,  arms  and  horses,  but  who  kill,  rob 
and  ruthlessly  destroy  the  property  of  individuals,  of  the 
nation,  and  sometimes  of  foreigners;  to  private  and  political 
plots;  to  the  difficulty  of  placing  confidence  in  anyone  in  the 


DEMOCRACY    ON    TRIAL  103 

general  slump  of  fidelity;  to  all  this  have  been  added  the  in- 
sidious influence  of  great  combinations  of  capital,  mostly  of 
foreigners,  interested  in  valuable  concessions;  and  the  shame- 
less intrigue  of  individuals  who  have  so  far  lost  all  that  made 
man  the  image  of  his  Creator  that,  just  for  private  gain, 
they  would  deliberately  embroil  two  friendly  nations  in  a 
war  that  would  be  disastrous  and  unfruitful  for  both. 

In  spite  of  all  this,  democracy  still  lives  in  Mexico,  not 
merely  enshrined  in  the  hearts  of  its  people,  but  as  a  vital 
force.  When  present  conditions  have  been  worked  out,  the 
great  body  of  sane,  thoughtful  Mexican  patriots  will  bring 
their  idolized  country''  back  to  her  rightful  position  of  respect 
and  confidence.  If  others  will  give  Mexico  intelligent  and 
sympathetic  cooperation  instead  of  misunderstanding,  mis- 
interpretation and  suspicion,  or  if  they  will  even  let  her  alone, 
she  will  successfully  work  out  her  own  salvation.  In  doing 
so  she  will  give  to  the  world  a  new  proof  of  the  tremendous 
power  of  democratic  principles,  not  merely  to  survive  under 
the  most  untoward  conditions,  but  ultimately  to  triumph 
over  every  obstacle. 


THE  PRESENT  SITUATION  IN  MEXICO  AS 
SHAPED  BY  PAST  EVENTS 

By  Leslie  C.  Wells,  Professor  of  French  and  Spanish 

at  Clark  College 

Porfirio  Diaz,  great  and  wonderful  as  certain  of  his  ac- 
complishments were,  gave  Mexico  a  very  lop-sided  admin- 
istration. Her  development  under  him  was  almost  en- 
tirely economic  in  character.  He  paid  little  attention  to 
the  social  uplift  of  his  people,  his  widely  advertised  solici- 
tude for  education  having  been  strangely  exaggerated;  he 
made  almost  no  attempt  to  reform  the  structure  of  society, 
which  for  a  large  part  of  the  people  is  that  of  feudalism;  he 
denied  them  even  the  slightest  opportunity  for  political 
training;  and  promoted  injustice  rather  than  justice. 

His  methods  may  have  proceeded  from  good  motives, 
but  the  statement  well  made  by  someone  that  he  "mistook 
the  wealth  of  the  country  for  its  well-being"  is  at  best  a 
charitable  judgment  of  his  rule.  To  his  all-consuming 
desire  of  setting  the  wheels  of  industry  in  motion  and  giving 
his  treasury-  a  favorable  standing  in  foreign  money  markets, 
he  subordinated  everytliing  else.  He  sought  to  get  the  nat- 
ural resources  of  the  country  used,  but  cared  little  who  used 
them.  The  quickest  way  to  accomplish  this  was,  or  ap- 
peared to  be,  to  give  all  encouragement  to  capitalists,  native 
and  foreign,  and  to  promote  the  concentration  of  wealth. 
The  national  blessings  to  be  derived  from  a  fair  distribution 
of  the  rewards  of  labor,  he  seems  hardly  to  have  dreamed  of. 
In  some  cases,  even,  willing  employers  were  ofl&cially  dis- 
couraged from  raising  the  wages  of  their  help.  The  land 
was  more  monopolized  at  the  end  of  his  rule  than  at  its 
beginning.  His  administration  made  for  the  exploitation 
of  the  Mexican  nation  rather  than  for  its  development. 

No  country  can  enjoy  true  progress  under  such  one-sided 
government,  and  injustice  patiently  endured  never  made  a 

104 


THE    PRESENT   SITUATION    IN   MEXICO  105 

nation  great.  Sufficient  proof  that  the  metliods  of  Dfaz 
were  not  those  which  Mexico  needed,  at  least  in  the  last 
decade  of  his  rule,  is  furnished  by  the  deplorable  condition 
to  which  they  have  brought  her. 

When  the  reaction  came  in  1910  it  was  natural  that  the 
pendulum  should  swing  too  far.  Madero  was  extravagant 
in  his  promises,  and  the  people  were  too  impatient  in  their 
demand  for  immediate  reforms.  But  Madero  had  prepared 
his  downfall  in  the  very  moment  of  his  victory  over  Diaz. 
He  then,  to  stop  bloodshed  and  perhaps  for  other  reasons, 
made  a  compromise  with  the  old  r6gime  that  delayed  and 
made  difficult  the  consummation  of  his  reforms.  If,  as 
may  bo  tnie,  he  himself,  when  President,  became  some- 
what shaken  also  in  his  plans,  the  purpose  of  the  Mexican 
people  remained  steady.  The  earlier  revolts  against  Ma- 
dero, as  well  as  those  of  F^hx  Dfaz,  were  perhaps  led  by  sel- 
fish men;  but  they  were  largely  supported  by  peons  who, 
however  vague  their  understanding  of  their  own  desires, 
were  insistent  that  the  revolution  should  not  be  abortive  in 
its  results. 

It  was  this  division  of  the  great  progressive  element  that 
gave  the  reactionary  party  under  F^lix  Diaz  and  General 
Huerta  its  chance  to  overthrow  the  government.  Their  vic- 
tory was  at  bottom  more  significant  of  the  mtense  desire 
of  the  nation  for  a  new  era  of  justice  than  it  was  of  dissatis- 
faction with  the  experiment  in  democracy,  which  was  far 
too  short  to  afford  suiy  real  test  whatsoever. 

At  this  point  mention  may  well  be  made  of  an  erroneous 
statement  which  of  late  has  appeared  in  American  news- 
papers, and  which  should  be  corrected;  the  statement  that 
when  Madero  was  elected  President  he  polled  only  20,000 
votes.  Presidential  elections  in  Mexico  are  indirect,  and  the 
mistake  has  arisen  through  a  confusion  of  the  popular  vote 
with  the  electoral  vote.  For  the  purpose  of  national  elec- 
tions, under  the  electoral  law  in  force  until  December,  1911, 
the  country  was  divided  into  "sections"  of  500  inhabitants 
each,  one  member  of  the  electoral  college  being  chosen  from 
each    section.'       As    there    is    a    Mexican    population    of 

*In  this  particular  the  npw  law  in  virtually  the  same. 


106  LESLIE   C.   WELLS 

15,000,000  people,  there  existed  theoretically  about  30,000 
electoral  sections.  Actually  there  were  only  about  20,000 
in  which  polls  were  held  at  the  time  of  Madero's  election. 
Approximately  95  per  cent  of  the  presidential  electors  from 
these  20,000  sections  cast  their  votes  for  Madero. 

Of  the  500  inhabitants  of  a  section,  the  normal  number  of 
voters  is  from  80  to  100.  On  the  average,  probably  from 
20  to  25  per  cent  of  these  went  to  the  polls.  It  might  be  im- 
possible to  obtain  authentic  figures,  but  it  seems  safe  to  say 
that  the  19,000  electors  who  cast  their  votes  for  Madero 
were  chosen  by  the  ballots  of  350,000  Mexicans.  Even 
this  number  is  a  small  portion  of  those  entitled  to  the  suf- 
frage; but,  under  the  circumstances,  it  is  reasonable  to  con- 
sider their  choice  as  fairly  representative  of  the  will  of  the 
Mexican  people. 

The  purpose  of  bringing  Mexico  into  a  new  era,  which 
they  failed  to  accomplish  through  that  election,  they  will 
seek  new  agencies  to  fulfill.  Its  chief  exponents  at  present 
are  the  Constitutionalists.  The  leaders  may  be  expected 
to  profit  from  Madero's  mistakes,  and  to  accept  no  com- 
promises that  are  likely  to  defeat  their  ends.  The  results 
of  past  compromises  will  explain  General  Carranza's  un- 
willingness for  mediation.  If  he  treats  with  Huerta,  it  will 
probably  be  when  Huerta' s  control  is  so  far  gone  that  Car- 
ranza  will  be  able  practically  to  dictate  the  terms.  He  must 
feel  sure  that  the  man  who  may  be  selected  for  provisional 
President  is  one  in  whose  democracy  the  people  will  have 
entire  confidence.  They  have  been  so  accustomed  to  elec- 
tions determined  by  official  power  that  otherwise  they  would 
not  vote  freely  in  the  polling  for  a  permanent  president. 
The  result  might  be  a  choice  not  at  all  representative  of  the 
will  of  the  nation,  and  the  revolution  would  remain  to  be 
fought  over  again. 

Foreign  governments,  therefore,  desiring  to  end  the  dis- 
order, should  beware  of  forcing  a  compromise.  They 
should  give  little  heed  to  capitalists  who  are  more  inter- 
ested in  securing  present  returns  from  their  Mexican  invest- 
ments, even  through  an  iron-handed  and  cruelly  oppressive 


THE    PRESENT    SITUATION    IN    MEXICO 


107 


peace  for  a  number  of  years,  than  they  are  in  bringing 
permanent  happiness  to  Mexico.  If  the  people  do  not 
get  justice  now,  they  will  surely  demand  it  later,  for 
"The  smallest  worm  will  turn,  being  trodden  on." 


n 


n 
j'>' 


,^ 


THE  PRESENT  DAY  PHASE  OF  THE  MONROE 

DOCTRINE 

By  F.  E.   Chadwick,   Rear  Admiral,    United  States  Navy, 

Formerly  President  of  the  Naval  War  College;  Chief 

of  Staff  to  Admiral  Sampson  in  the  Spa7iish  War 

I  think  it  well  that  there  should  from  time  to  time  be 
discussions  of  our  public  policies  so  that  their  true  meaning 
be  kept  before  the  country.  Any  policy  which  cannot 
stand  discussion  is  of  course  a  bad  policy,  for  in  a  free  dis- 
cussion of  any  question  of  policy  or  politics  is  our  safety. 
It  is  the  basis  of  the  freedom  of  which  we  boast.  I  thus 
hope,  whatever  the  views  of  those  concerned,  that  we  shall 
have  a  full  and  frank  discussion  of  the  subject  in  hand. 

Before  entering  on  the  question  itself,  I  would  like  to  say 
that  we  are  using  an  erroneous  nomenclature  in  applying 
the  term  "Latin"  to  those  parts  of  the  Americas  settled 
by  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese.  There  is  no  Latin  Amer- 
ica in  a  true  sense:  but  there  is  an  Iberic  America  settled 
by  the  people  of  the  Iberic  peninsula,  the  races  in  which 
are  still  mainly  of  the  old  Iberic  blood  and  in  no  large  sense 
"Latin."    I  shall  have  something  to  say  of  this  later. 

I  have  heard  no  mention  of  the  actual  Doctrine  under 
discussion  as  it  originally  stood.  I  thus  venture  to  say 
a  few  words  on  this. 

It  was  in  reality  due  mainly  to  John  Quincy  Adams, 
Monroe's  secretary  of  state.  He  first  gave  it  concrete  form 
and  was  thus  its  true  author.  It  was  by  his  insistence 
despite  tremblings  of  the  President  and  the  rest  of  the  Cabi- 
net that  it  appeared  in  a  note  read  on  November  21,  1823, 
to  Baron  Tuyll,  the  Russian  Minister,  in  form  as  follows: 

That  the  United  States  of  America,  and  their  government 
could  not  see  with  indifference,  the  forcible  interposition  of  any 
European  power,  other  than  Spain,  either  to  restore  the  dominion 
of  Spain  over  her  emancipated  colonies  in  America,  or  to  estab- 

108 


PRESENT  DAY  PHASE  OF  MONROE  DOCTRINE  109 

lish  monarchial  governments  in  those  countries,  or  to  transfer 
any  of  the  possessions  heretofore  or  yet  subject  to  Spain  in  the 
American  hemisphere  to  any  other  European  power. 

As  the  responsibility  of  the  acceptance  of  the  principle 
and  of  its  appearance  later  in  fuller  form  was  the  President's 
it  very  properly  took  his  name. 

So  early  as  July  17  of  that  year  Adams  had  announced 
this  policy  to  Bjron  Tuyll  in  an  official  conversation,  saying 
that  "we  should  assume  distinctly  the  principle  that  the 
American  continents  are  no  longer  subjects  for  any  new 
colonial  establishments."  These  expressions,  those  of 
Adams  as  well  as  that  fathered  by  Monroe,  were  the  out- 
come of  the  alliance  known  as  Holy,  consisting  first  of  Rus- 
sia, Austria  and  Prussia.  England  shortly  became  a  sig- 
natory and  France  becanrie  a  party  in  1818.  The  alliance 
in  this  year  stated  the  "respose  of  the  world"  as  "constantly 
their  motive  and  end."  To  assist  Spain  in  reducing  to 
obedience  her  revolted  American  provinces  was  one  of  the 
means  proposed.  England  under  the  guidance  of  George 
Canning,  one  of  the  greatest  of  her  statesmen  at  any  period, 
withdrew  from  the  alliance.  Canning's  attitude  and  the 
pronouncement  in  Monroe's  message  on  the  meeting  of 
congress  December  21,  1823,  gave  a  quietus  to  any 
proposed  interference  with  the  Spanish  provinces,  which 
one  by  one  became  independent  except  Cuba  and  Puerto 
Rico.  Brazil  declared  independence  of  Portugal  with  a 
scion  of  Portuguese  royalty  as  emperor. 

We  thus  very  materially  assisted  Mexico  and  the  South 
American  republics  in  establishing  their  nationahty.  That 
we  had  none  but  the  vaguest  ideas  regarding  the  conditions 
of  these  various  countries,  the  character  and  temperament 
of  the  populations,  goes  without  saying.  We  know  all  too  ; 
little  of  them  now,  and,  particularly,  we  know,  or  at  least  take 
to  heart,  but  little  of  the  race  characteristics  of  the  governing 
class  small  in  numbers  and  which,  in  all  but  Brazil  where  it  is 
Portuguese,  is  of  Spanish  blood.  The  Anglo-SiLxon  is  prover- 
bially slow  and  weak  in  the  acquirement  or  at  least  in  the  ap- 
plication of  such  race  knowledge.  The  great  massof  our  people 
are  apt  to  assign  to  all  races  tiieir  own  qualities;  to  believe 


1  10  p.    E.    CHADWICK 

I  that  what  we  wish  to  do  is  a  sign  of  what  they  must  wish. 

j  That  the  South  American  states  had  the  wish  to  follow  our 
experiment  in  government  is  undoubtedly  true.  But  to 
wish  and  to  do  are  different  things.  They  all,  except  Bra- 
zil, sat  at  our  feet  so  to  speak;  formed  their  constitutions 
upon  ours  and  started  upon  the  road  to  freedom  which  only 
led  them,  in  their  case,  into  the  slough  of  almost  incessant 
revolution  and  political  convulsion.  Back  of  their  wish 
was  the  great  dominant  power  of  race  temperament  which 
governs  and  ever  will  govern  in  great  degree  all  effort.  The 
fateful  inheritance  was  the  oriental  temperament  of  the 
Spaniards,  for  the  Spaniard  in  the  main  is  not  a  European, 
but  a  child  of  the  orient.  Basicly  he  is  a  Berber,  for  such 
was  the  ancient  Iberian,  which  probably  has  its  root  in  the 
word  Berber,  and  his  near  relatives  are  the  Berbers  to- 
day of  the  Atlas,  and  the  Moors  of  Morocco;  and  farther 
back  the  Arab  and  the  latter's  kindred  races.  These  races 
have  never  got  rid  of  their  tribal  tendencies  and  it  is  this 
tendency  which  accounts  for  the  subjugation  of  Spain  by 
the  Atlas  Berbers  and  Moors  in  700,  for  the  downfall  of  their 
power  800  years  later;  for  the  constant  regionalism  of  Spain 
which  exists  even  today  and  prevents  a  real  solidarity  of 
the  various  kingdoms  of  Spain,  and  for  the  frequent  revo- 
lutions and  upheavals  of  the  Mexican  and  South  American 
republics.  It  is  in  the  nature  of  the  Spanish  (and  govern- 
ing) part  of  their  population.  This  tendency  will  be  modi- 
fied as  the  native  races  and  their  mixture  with  the  whites 
increase  in  comparison  with  the  pure  white.  It  is  esti- 
mated that  already  in  Mexico  the  population  itt  nineteen- 
twentieths  Indian.  It  is  only  the  phlegmatic  character 
of  the  race  and  their  want  of  assertiveness  which  prevents 
their  having  a  gi"eater  influence.  Thus  the  Mexican  revolu- 
tions are  the  outcome  of  the  exploitation  of  the  weaker  and 
milder  race  by  but  about  a  million  of  people  of  the  restless 
Spanish  or  nearly  Spanish  blood,  the  character  of  the 
dominancy  of  which  is  shown  by  the  casting  some- 
times of  less  than  18,000  votes  in  a  presidential  election 
in  a  population  of  about  18,000,000.  Notwithstanding, 
and  though  very  few  can  be  said  to  be  republics  in  any  but 


PRESENT  DAY  PHASE  OF  MONROE  DOCTRINE  111 

name,  certain  of  these  countries  by  reason  of  race  mixture 
and  pressure  of  commercial  interests,  have  already  grown 
out  of  their  chaotic  conditions.  Argentina  is  today  a  well 
ordered  prosperous  country,  rich  beyond  even  North  Amer- 
ican ideas  and  with  a  capital  city,  Buenos  Aires,  of  a  popu- 
lation of  over  a  milHon,  a  rival  in  construction,  well-being, 
appearance  and  wealth  of  any  city  in  the  world.  The  coun- 
try, mainly  temperate  in  climate  and  well  nigh  half  the  size 
of  the  United  States,  has  a  great  destiny.  It  is  undoubtedly 
one  of  the  seats  of  empire.  It  is  beyond  the  stage  when  it  can 
be  patronized.  The  same  may  be  said  of  Chile  and  Bra- 
zil though  the  last  (never  revolutionary  in  an  extreme  sense) 
is  immensely  handicapped  by  its  non-homogeneous  popula- 
tion, so  largely  negro  and  Indian  and  of  a  mixture  of  both 
these  with  the  white.  In  all  the  other  states,  except  Uruguay 
which  is  still  perhaps  the  most  truly  Spanish  in  blood,  the 
mixture  is  chiefly  Indian,  as  in  Mexico.  We  have  thus 
in  our  dealings  with  the  regions  to  the  south  of  us,  to  con- 
sider powers  racially  so  different  from  ourselves  that  oui- 
understanding  of  one  another  is  extremely  difficult.  The 
polite  and  ceremonious  South  American  of  Spanish  descent 
cannot  understand  our  rudeness  of  manner,  our  overbear- 
ingness,  our  want  of  that  courtesy  in  general  on  which  the 
Spaniard  lays  a  stress  which  the  North  American  mind 
fails  wholly  to  comprehend.  ^\nd,  too,  for,  generations, 
we  sent  to  South  America  many  diplomatic  and  consular 
representatives  who  misrepresented  sadly  their  country. 
I  could  tell  some  very  queer  stories  of  such.  Our  govern- 
ment in  later  years  has  come  to  understand  the  necessity 
of  sending  a  higher  class  of  representatives,  but  it  will  take 
long  to  dispel  the  old  impressions. 

Naturally  with  such  impressions  immensely  accentuated 
by  racial  and  lingual  differences,  the  southern  republics 
have  turned  to  Europe  rather  than  to  us  for  trade,  travel 
and  amusements.  Brazil  and  the  countries  south  are  also 
much  nearer  Europe  than  to  us,  so  that  everything  has 
worked  against  an  actual  drawing  together  of  these  regions 
and  ourselves. 

It  has  seemed  necessary  to  say  so  much  of  conditions, 


112  F.    E.    CHADWICK 

as  they  are  closely  related  to  any  discussion  of  the  meaning 
of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  todaj\ 

That  there  is  any  danger  to  Brazil,  Argentina  or  Chile, 
such  as  was  existent  in  1823,  it  is  impossible  to  believe. 
Undoubtedly  these  now  comparatively  powerful  countries 
would  stand  together  were  either  attacked  with  a  view  to 
subjugation,  by  a  European  power.  Such  an  alliance  is  in 
itself  an  all  sufficient  Monroe  Doctrine  in  so  far  as  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  European  hegemony  in  the  southern  and 
south-eastern  part  of  South  America  is  concerned.  I  thus 
am  of  the  opinion  that  we  need  not  concern  ourselves  about 
such  a  danger  more  than  to  declare  a  readiness  to  join  with 
these  three  principal  powers  in  case  such  emergency  should 
arise.  But  I  am  convinced  that  no  such  emergency  will 
arise  through  any  European  power,  though  there  is  a  vol- 
ume of  immigration  which  is  sure  to  change  the  predomi- 
nance in  importance  of  the  Portuguese  blood  in  southern 
Brazil  and  that  of  the  Spanish  in  Uruguay,  Argentina  and 
more  slowly  in  Chile.  For  more  than  ninety  years  there 
has  been  emigration  from  Germany  to  South  Brazil,  and  the 
110,000  who  have  come  to  southern  Brazil  between  1820 
and  1911  amount  today  to  more  than  300,000  by  far  the 
greater  number  of  whom  know  of  course  no  other  father- 
land. There  are  also  today  hundreds  of  thousands  of  Ital- 
ians chiefly  of  the  better  north  Italian  stock  and  who,  m  Bra- 
zil are  chiefly  a  little  to  the  north  of  the  Germanic  region. 
But  these  people  whatever  may  come  (and  it  must  be  kept 
in  mind  that  migration  to  South  America  is  Latin  in  enor- 
mous proportion,  the  German,  to  Brazil  being  not  more 
than  4000  a  yeai'),  will  never  put  themselves  under  the 
government  of  a  European  power.  Should  Brazil,  which 
be  it  remembered  is  considerably  larger  than  the  United 
States,  leaving  aside  Alaska,  ever  separate  into  a  north  and 
a  south  through  racial  differences,  the  south  would  either 
set  up  its  own  government  or  attach  itself  to  Argentina 
which  in  time  may  control  the  whole  of  the  river  Plate 
region.  I  would  say  however  that  I  regard  any  danger 
of  separation,  by  reason  of  race,  extremely  unlikely  in  that 


PRESENT  DAY  PHASE  OF  MONROE  DOCTRINE  113 

the  northern  states  are  destined  to  be  peopled  by  those  of 
a  blood  whose  special  characteristic  is  subordination.  In 
any  case  even  were  there  a  fear  of  European  difficulty  it 
would  seem  the  part  of  wisdom  to  encourage  the  filling  up 
of  these  vast  spaces  where  possible  by  a  better  sort  of  man 
than  the  negro  or  Indian.  It  would  be  better  far,  for  Brazil 
and  the  world,  if  the  Germans  in  Brazil  numbered  millions 
where  they  are  now  only  a  few  huncbeds  of  thousands. 
If  in  time  Germanic  blood  became  the  chief  element,  the 
state  would  still  be  Brazil,  but  a  Brazil  of  a  higher  type 
intellectually  and  economically.  We  must  not  lose  sight 
of  race  values,  and  this  question  is  thus  to  Brazil  of  the  most 
momentous  chai'acter.  Of  its  population  of  about  19,000,- 
000,  much  the  largest  population  is  negro,  mixed  negro  and 
white  and  Indian.  The  whites  predominate  in  numbers 
in  the  further  south  only. 

^\^lile  this  south  is  laigely  a  high  table  land,  the  northern 
interior  is  chiefly  a  vast  low-ljing  region  all  well  within 
the  tropics  and  with  the  tepid  chmate  in  which  the  white  can 
never  thrive.  Escaping  disease,  as  at  Panama,  is  one  thing, 
thriving  in  such  a  climate  is  another,  and  however  strenuous 
may  be  the  endeavor  to  people  the  whole  of  Brazil  with 
white  men  it  must  be  to  a  very  great  extent  a  failure.  At 
least  two-thirds  of  her  territory  must  in  time  be  the  abode 
of  colored  races,  and  in  time  there  will  be  in  most  parts 
but  very  few  pure  whites. 

We  thus  need  not  concern  ourselves  about  P]uropean 
emigration  to  Brazil  north  of  Rio  Janeiro;  nature  will  t-ake 
care  of  that  part  of  the  problem. 

Wliile  there  are  great  regions  to  which  the  white  man  will 
not  go  to  establish  himself  permanently,  the  colored  races 
are  able  to  thrive  even  in  fairly  cold  climates.  Thus  the 
facts  just  stated  open  up  a  problem  more  vast  and  mo- 
mentous to  us  than  our  slavery  question;  that  is  shall  we 
approach  the  Brazilian  conditions? 

However  kindly  our  feeling,  we  can  not  but  recognize 
that  some  races  make  a  more  valual)le  return  to  the  spe- 
cies than  others.  We  preach  greatly  wliat  we  now  terra 
eugenics  wiiich  translated  broadly  means  the  production  of 


\ 


114  F.    E.    CHAD  WICK 

the  best  man.  We  are  faced  in  our  own  country  by  this 
question  in  a  more  serious  form  than  is  any  other  great 
nation.  A  tenth  of  our  population  is  now  negro  which  is 
rapidly  in  the  north  mixing  with  the  white;  the  incoming 
population  is  largely  itself  negroid,  particularly  that  from 
the  Portuguese  islands,  less  markedly  from  Portugal  itself 
and  markedly  from  Sicil}''  and  Naples.  Many  thousands 
of  jet  black  negroes  calling  themselves  Portuguese,  as  they 
are  under  the  flag,  have  entered  Massachusetts  from  the 
Cape  Verde  Islands  in  the  last  few  years  and  every  Cape 
Verde  Islander  will  finally  come  and  help  his  fellows  pick 
cranberries  on  Cape  Cod,  or  work  in  the  New  Bedford  mills. 
The  census  gives  nearly  50,000  negroes  as  part  of  our  popu- 
lation not  born  in  the  United  States,  and  there  are  un- 
doubtedly man}--  more  than  the  census  notes.  The  time  is 
rapidly  approaching  when  we  may  expect  a  great  immi- 
gration from  the  Congo  basin  of  Africa.  It  becomes  a 
mighty  question  which  it  behooves  us  to  consider,  and  that 
soon.  Says  Pearson,  in  his  National  Life  and  Character, 
and  he  saw  farther  into  the  future  than  most  of  his  time: 

The  distant  future  of  a  country  is  so  unimportant  by  the  side 
of  its  immediate  needs  to  the  men  in  possession  that  even  if  they 
were  reasonably  certain  that  a  particular  evil  ought  to  be  guarded 
against  at  an  immediate  sacrifice,  they  would  rarely  be  possessed 
of  the  moral  force  required  for  the  effort. 

Shall  we  have  this  moral  force  in  the  matter  of  Africa 
whose  millions  will  undoubtedly  before  long  be  at  our  doors? 
If  not,  the  present  differentiation  in  character  between  our- 
selves and  Mexico  and  much  of  South  America  will  in  no 
very  distant  time  disappear  and  we  shall  have  approxi- 
mated a  general  likeness  in  both  parts  of  our  hemisphere. 
It  is  a  matter  for  our  most  serious  thought,  to  which  at  the 
moment  I  can  give  but  bare  mention,  but  I  would  that  you 
would  hold  it  in  earnest  thought.  Shall  we  have  and  dis- 
play that  patriotism  of  race,  to  use  a  phrase  of  Arthur  Bal- 
four's, which  alone  can  save  us  from  being  a  negroid  nation? 
If  it  is  a  vital  question;  one  before  which  the  questions 
involved  in  the  Monroe  Doctrine  shrink  to  insignificance. 


PRESENT  DAY  PHASE  OF  MONROE  DOCTRINE  115 

The  Monroe  Doctrine  does  not  necessarily  involve  oppos- 
ing any  warlike  action  between  a  European  power  and  an 
American  nationality,  for  an  offense  which  necessarily  calla 
for  such  action.  This  part  of  the  subject  is  covered  by  Mr. 
Seward's  despatch,  2  June,  1866,  to  our  minister  in  Chile 
regarding  the  hostilities  then  active  between  Spain  and 
Chile.  The  gist  of  this  despatch  is  that  "the  republican 
system"  in  any  South  .Vmerican  State, 

shall  not  be  wantonlj'  assailed  and  that  it  shall  not  be  subverted 

aa  an  end  of  a  lawful  war  by  European  powers 

We  concede  to  every  nation  the  right  to  make  peace  or  war,  for 
such  causes  other  than  political  or  ambitious,  as  it  thinks  right 
and  wise.  In  such  wars  as  are  waged  between  nations  which 
are  in  friendship  with  ourselves,  if  they  are  not  pushed,  like  the 
French  war  in  Mexico,  to  the  political  point  before  mentioned, 
we  do  not  intervene,  but  remain  neutral  conceding  nothing  to  one 
belligerent  that  we  do  not  concede  to  the  other  and  allowing  to 
one  belligerent  what  we  allow  to  the  other.^ 

This  in  nowise  contravenes  the  Monroe  Declaration  which 
declares  that  "We  should  consider  any  attempt  on  their 
part  [meaning  the  European  powers]  to  extend  their  sys- 
tem to  any  portion  of  this  hemisphere  as  dangerous  to  our 
peace  and  safety,"  that  "we  could  not  view  any  inter- 
position for  the  purpose  of  oppressing  them  [the  South 
American  states],  or  controlling  in  any  other  manner  their 
destiny  by  any  European  power  in  any  other  light  than 
as  a  manifestation  of  an  unfriendly  disposition  to  the 
United  States."  It  must  be  admitted  that  the  word  "re- 
publican" in  Mr.  Seward's  dispatch,  and,  which  is  only 
implied  in  the  Monroe  declaration,  is  made  to  cover  much 
which  we  should  be  sorry  to  so  term;  but  in  any  case  the 
constitutions  of  all  have  established  such  a  form  as  their 
ideal  and  they  should  have  full  chance  to  work  toward  it. 

The  whole  question  is  thus  one  of  denying  the  right  of  a 
foreign  power  to  dominion  in  any  American  state  or  part 
of  a  state  nor  already  in  possession  of  a  foreign  power.  In 
other  words  we  are  very  properly  opposed  to  conquest. 

\_\\Tiile  holding  that  as  to  the  more  southern  governments 
of  South  America  our  relations  should  be  as  a  fourth  equal 

'  Diplom.  Cor.  1866,  part  2,  p.  413. 


116  F.   E.    CHAD  WICK 

with  a  like  understanding  as  to  attempted  foreign  dom- 
ination, and  not  in  the  nature  of  a  protector  which  carries 
with  it  an  idea  of  patronage,  the  matter  stands  on  a  very 
different  footing  as  to  the  regions  bordering  on  the  Car- 
ibbean sea  and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  on  that  part  of  the 
Pacific  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Panama  Canal.  That 
we  must  have  and  exercise  a  commanding  influence  in  these 
regions  should  go  without  saying.  We  can  brook  no  in- 
crease of  foreign  control  in  this  region.  Our  newly  es- 
tablished gateway  between  the  two  great  oceans  and  the 
protection  of  this  vital  link  in  our  defensive  system  demand 
this  independent  of  any  question  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine. 
Thus  in  addition  to  our  policy  of  aiding  in  the  preservation 
of  any  South  American  state  from  foreign  control,  we  would 
oppose  anything  like  new  occupancy  of  any  of  the  We«t 
India  Islands  or  Caribbean  or  Gulf  of  Mexico  htoral,  or  any 
part  of  the  Pacific  literal  of  Mexico  or  the  Central  /Vmerican 
states,  or  neighboring  islands,  such,  for  example,  as  the 
Galdpagos. 

.There  are  of  course  already  in  the  hands  of  foreign  na- 
tions commanding  points  in  the  Caribbean  region,  as  Ja- 
maica, (the  most  commanding  as  a  single  point  of  all),  in 
possession  of  the  English,  St.  Thomas  which  is  Danish, 
Martinique  and  Guadeloupe  which  are  French.  All  the 
important  West  India  Islands  are  in  fact  in  European 
possession  except  Cuba,  Santo  Domingo  and  Puerto  Rico. 
It  is  not  unreasonable,  as  a  mere  matter  of  safeguarding 
our  own  shores,  to  demand  that  there  should  be  no  exten- 
sion of  foreign  occupancy  in  this  region.  In  this  we  are 
looking  after  not  the  safety  of  any  Central  or  South  American 
state,  but  our  own  safety  from  a  naval  or  military  stand- 
point. The  Panama  Canal  is  the  very  navel  of  our  system, 
strategic  and  commericial.  Our  battle  fleet  for  mstance 
could  reach  San  Francisco  from  the  Caribbean  in  a  fourth 
of  the  time  taken  by  the  Oregon  in  her  famous  passage 
from  San  Francisco  to  the  Caribbean.  Any  foreign  ac- 
tion which  could  look  to  weakening  our  control  of  the 
canal  and  its  approaches  thus  could  not  be  tolerated. 

I  am  well  aware  that  there  are  probably  some  who  lay 


PRESENT  DAY  PHASE  OF  MONROE  DOCTRINE  117 

no  stress  upon  such  matters,  but  it  would  appear  the  part 
of  wisdoni  to  apply  to  the  future  the  lessons  of  the  past. 
Jefferson,  more  than  a  hundred  years  ago,  failed  to  do  this 
and  thus  subjected  his  country  to  inexpressible  humiliation 
in  theseizureof  our  ships  and  seamen,  to  the  loss  of  millions 
of  American  property  and  to  the  war  of  1812,  which  would 
never  have  occurred  had  we  had  the  dozen  or  so  of  battle- 
ships which  even  Gallatin,  Jefferson's  secretary  of  the 
treasury,  urged  upon  him.  We  speak  of  modern  dictator- 
ship on  the  part  of  our  presidents;  no  modern  president 
has  exercised  a  tithe  of  that  exercised  by  Jefferson  in  these 
matters  and  not  always  to  his  country's  good.  There  is 
in  such  matters  but  one  safe  course.  All  the  world  will  not 
always  shape  itself  to  one's  own  special  views,  and  for  the 
time  at  least,  it  is  better  to  be  prepared  to  resist  if  struck. 
If  not,  it  is  possible  that  we  might  find  ourselves  the 
victim  in  considerable  degree,  of  that  which  the  Monroe 
Doctrine  was  established  to  prevent  for  others.  A  first 
consideration  must  ever  be  national  security  and  safety. 
Some  here  no  doubt  are  opposed  to  a  strong  navy.  To 
such  I  would  recall  that  it  was  to  the  French  navy  by  its 
occupancy  of  the  Cheaspeake  in  1781  and  the  consequent 
surrender  of  Cornwallis,  that  we  gained  our  independence. 
For  had  Washington's  venture  south  failed,  the  Revolu- 
tion would  have  failed.  It  was  a  last  attempt.  Had  we 
had  no  navy  in  1812  (and  it  was  but  a  very  little  one),  we 
should  then  have  undergone  greater  humiliation  ashore 
than  we  did  and  perhaps  dismembennent.  Without  the 
navy  of  the  Civil  War,  the  South  beyond  any  reasonable 
doubt  would  have  succeeded.  It  was  the  blockade  which 
starved  it  to  inanition.  The  world  has  not  so  changed  in 
fifty  years  as  to  make  a  war  of  conquest  impossible.  It  is 
but  a  little  over  forty  years  when  France  was  in  the  grip 
of  Germany.  We  cannot  apply  our  own  altruism  to  others, 
and  as  I  sec  it,  it  appears  bc^-ond  discussion  that  our  own 
safety  depends  upon  our  ability  to  take  care  of  our  own. 
Remember  that  in  June,  1860,  the  only  increase  of  the  navy 
even  suggested,  was  for  a  few  liglit  draft  steamers  for  use  in 
suppression  of  the  slave  trade  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  and 


118  F.    E.    CHADWICK 

every  increase  was  voted  down.     Less  than  a  year  later  we 
began  the  greatest  war  of  the  century. 

To  assume  an  attitude;  to  have  a  world  policy  and  not 
be  able  to  hold  it,  would  be  to  make  ourselves  absurd  and 
open  to  humiliation  and  loss  of  territory.  So  much  at  least 
is  axiomatic.     I  say  these  truths  "Lest  we  forget." 

The  Monroe  Doctrine  is  not  in  any  of  its  meanings  or 
f orms»  a  part  of  internatjonal  law.  It  is  but  a  pronounce- 
ment of  a  policy  and  as  such  it  may  be  ignored  by  any! 
power  which  chooses  to  ignore  it.  Jt_has_iife_and^being 
only~as~Iong  as  the  United  States  is  ready  to  back  such 
policy  by  force.  That  there  is  any  danger  of  action  by 
any  European  power  in  defiance  of  the  policy  does  not  now 
at  least,  appear.  Certainly  England  has  no  interest  in  so 
doing;  there  is  no  sign  that  Germany  wishes  to  set  up  a 
German  state  under  Germany's  hegemony.  ^That  she  de- 
sires as  many  Germans  in  South  America  who  through 
natural  affiliation  would  trade  largely  with  Germany  is 
natural  and  proper/but  she  would  certainly  not  risk  a  war 
with  united  Brazil,  Argentina,  and  Chile,  not  to  speak  of 
the  United  States,  to  bring  under  her  dominion  the  region 
occupied  by  her  emigrants.'vi  have  ever  deemed  any  such 
question  of  war  with  Germany  as  impossible.  So  long  as 
the  great  Slav  question  is  so  imminent;  so  long  as  France 
nurses  her  feeling  for  her  loss  of  territory  and  England, 
however  unreasoningly,  her  fear  of  Germany  instigated 
by  commercial  jealousy,  there  will  be  no  reaching  out  by 
the  latter  for  Soutli  American  dominion.  France  has  not 
the  remotest  desire  to  set  up  a  French  dominion  there, 
nor  has  Italy,  and  England  declared  some  eighteen  months 
since  through  her  foreign  minister  speaking  in  parliament, 
that  as  she  had  no  wish  or  intention  to  extend  her  posses- 
sions either  in  the  West  Indies  or  on  the  continent,  she 
took  no  exception  to  the  Monroe  Doctrine  which  was 
purely  a  question  of  iVmerican  policy  to  do  with  as  we  thought 
best.  The  danger  in  the  sense  of  jMonroe's  pronouncement 
could  thus  only  exist  after  a  complete  effacement  of  American 
power,  north  and  south. 

Thus  to  sum  up :    our  most  reasonable  attitude  as  to  any 


PRESENT  DAY  PHASE  OF  MONROE  DOCTItlNE  119 

question  of  conquest  or  occupancy  of  any  part  of  South 
America  would  be  as  a  friendly  fourth  pai'ty  to  the  three 
greater  powers  of  the  southern  part  of  our  hemisphere, 
.'  Brazil,  Argentina  and  Chile,  assuring  them  that  our  policy 
I  would  be  one  of  support  in  the  questions  involved  in  the 
Monroe  Doctrine  and  of  looking  after  our  special  interests 
in  the  Caribbean,  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  near  Pacific  as 
just  defined. 

Our  action  in  regard  to  certain  of  the  Central  American 
states  and  Santo  Domingo  has  been,  in  some  cases,  sharply 
criticised.  But  such  procedure,  as  I  see  it,  has  nothing  in 
itself  to  do  with  the  IMonroe  Doctrine.  There  are  many 
precedents  for  such  action,  and  if  it  be  that  of  a  truly 
friendly  and  well-wishing  neighbor  it  is  correct  diplomat- 
ically and  morally.  Of  course  the  most  extreme  prece- 
dent is  that  of  the  Holy  Alliance  itself,  as  overtly  shown 
in  Naples,  Piedmont,  and  Spain.  But  there  are  other  and 
more  worthy  instances,  as  the  intervention  of  France,  Great 
Britain  and  Russia  in  1827  for  the  pacification  of  Greece; 
the  late  action  of  the  European  powers  in  Crete;  of  Great  j 
Britain  in  Egypt;  of  Russia  and  Great  Britain  in  Persia  (tof 
which  the  word  "worthy"  can  however  not  be  assigned);/, 
the  action  of  the  powers  in  forcing  a  treaty  upon  the  parties 
to  the  Balkan  war,  and  many  others,  which  place  such  ac- 
tion as  ours  in  Nicaragua  and  Santo  Domingo  upon  a  per- 
fectly correct  diplomatic  footing.  Such  precedents  would 
justify  intervention  in  Mexico  if  the  worst  came  to  the 
worst.  In  saying  this  I  would  not  be  understood  as  de- 
claring such  action  advisable  except  in  the  last  extremity. 
It  would  strain  our  political  system  to  the  utmost;  would 
involve  an  army  of  half  a  million  men,  an  indefinite  ad- 
ministration of  a  vast  region  and  the  government  for  years 
of  some  17,000,000  or  more  of  races  alien  in  temperament, 
habits,  customs,  language  and  religion.  Far  better,  from 
only  a  financial  point  of  view,  would  it  be  for  us  to  buy 
up  every  foreign  interest  in  Mexico.  We  have  through 
our  pension  laws  bound  ourselves  hand  and  foot  against 
the  active  use  of  a  great  army.     We  should  end  any  effort 


120  F.    E.    CHADWICK 

at  occupation  and  pacification  (should  it  ever  end)  with  a 
pension  list  swollen  to  such  gigantic  proportions  that  our 
finances  would  go  to  wreck  under  the  burden.  And  above 
all  how  under  our  system  could  we  govern  it?  And  this 
last  question  is  above  all  others.  I  can  see  in  such  an  ef- 
fort nothing  but  disaster.  I  thus  say  as  to  such  procedure, 
God  forbid! 

With  this  I  close,  except  to  say  that  I  think  our  relations 
to  our  brother  republics  to  the  south  should  be  governed 
by  every  possible  consideration  for  their  temperament  and 
care  for  their  prejudices;  that  our  diplomatic  and  consular 
representatives  should  be  of  a  character  to  command  wholly 
their  liking  and  respect,  and  that  we  should  appear  in  all 
matters  concerning  Pan-American  questions  as  an  equal 
only  among  equals,  determined  to  do  the  just,  the  equitable 
and  the  kindly.  On  such  a  basis  there  would  be  no  diffi- 
culty regarding  the  Monroe  Doctrine. 


THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  FROM  A  SOUTH 
AMERICAN  VIEWPOINT 

By  Honorable  Charles  H.  Sherrill,  Envoy  Extraordinary 
and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  to  Argentina,  1909-1911 

In  this  hemisphere  the  twentieth  century  will  sooner  or 
later  come  to  he  known  as  the  centurj^  of  the  Southerner. 
Already  clear  evidence  is  being  shown  of  the  steady  strong 
tendency  which  must,  unless  diverted  or  dissipated  by  some 
historical  cataclysm,  write  this  title  across  the  century  upon 
which  we  have  entered.  And  any  man  concerned  in  pub- 1 
lie  affairs  who  does  not  take  into  account  the  viewpoint 
of  the  Southerner  has  no  claim  to  statesmanship,  and  does 
not  deserve  the  confidence  of  his  fellows.  Nor  is  this  true 
in  our  hemisphere  alone,  but  also  across  the  Atlantic  as  well, 
for  who  can  fail  to  have  observed  the  awakening  of  the 
Latin  races  of  Europe.  Is  not  the  splendid  new  national 
spirit  of  France  a  significant  proof  of  this  movement?  And 
what  of  the  stream  of  money  being  constant!}'  transmitted 
to  Italy  by  her  industrious  and  economical  toilers  in  the  har- 
vests and  on  the  railways  of  both  North  and  South  America 
— toilers  who  return  to  their  native  land  and  add  not  only 
to  its  public  wealth,  but  also  to  its  worthy  citizenship! 
More  mar\'elous  still  are  the  amazing  annual  increases  to 
be  noted  in  the  already  impressive  foreign  trade  of  Argentina 
and  of  Brazil.  In  our  own  southern  states,  are  we  not 
witnessing  the  working  out  along  practical  lines  of  one  of 
commerce's  strangest  fairy  tales?  Go  to  Birmingham  or 
Atlanta  or  Chattanooga  or  any  of  the  long  list  of  great 
modernized  cities  in  the  South,  and  the  truth  of  this  prop- 
osition will  receive  ocular  demonstration  of  a  surprising 
completeness.  When  two  years  ago  upon  my  return  from 
Argentina  I  spoke  before  nearly  two  hundred  commercial 
organizations,  the  most  instructing  experience  of  all  (and 
there  were  many)  was  the  realization  that  municipal  col- 

121 


122  CHARLES   H.    SHERILL 

lective  effort  was  on  the  whole  better  conceived  and  con- 
ducted, and  yielding  better  results,  in  the  south  than  in  any 
other  section.  All  parts  of  the  United  States  have  come 
to  recognize  and  to  be  proud  of  the  New  South,  and  of  all 
it  means  to  the  strength  of  our  nation :  why  are  we  so  reluc- 
tant to  give  the  same  recognition  to  the  great  republics  of 
South  America! 

I  am  an  enthusiastic  Pan-American,  and  an  earnest  be- 
liever in  the  high  ideals  of  Pan-Americanism,  and  one  of 
those  ideals  is  respect  for  the  viewpoint  of  our  fellow  Ameri- 
cans. The  peoples  of  our  hemisphere  have  been  allowed  to 
develop  naturally  in  an  atmosphere  of  liberty  and  of  ample 
opportunity,  amid  surroundings  that  in  Europe  the  trammels 
of  an  older  civilization  would  have  rendered  either  difficult 
or  impossible.  This  very  freedom  of  the  Americas  has 
worked  strange  and  radical  changes  in  the  European  races 
that  came  to  it  and  have  become  Americanized  by  its  in- 
fluence. It  has  accelerated  the  mentality  of  the  Anglo-Sax- 
on of  North  America,  and  it  has  steadied  and  broadened  the 
vitality  and  energy  of  the  Latin  of  South  America,  and  it 
is  insensibly  bringing  them  nearer  together.  An  interesting 
ethnological  parallel  could  be  drawn  between  the  change 
effected  in  an  Irishman  by  moving  him  from  Ireland  to  New 
York,  and  that  in  a  Spanish  emigrant  before  he  leaves  his 
home  and  after  he  arrives  in  the  subtly  Americanizing  sur- 
roundings of  Buenos  Aires.  If  it  isn't  the  new  environ- 
ment that  works  the  transformation,  what  is  it? — and  if 
the  same  effect  is  produced  at  points  six  thousand  miles 
apart,  isn't  it  fair  to  call  that  effect  Pan-American!  And 
isn't  it  fair  to  consider  the  viewpoint  of  the  Americanized 
Latin  just  as  much  as  that  of  the  Americanized  Anglo-Sax- 
on? He  is  just  as  much  a  child  of  liberty  and  opportunity 
as  we,  and  just  as  worthy  of  consideration.  We  hear  much 
of  the  steadiness  and  self-control  of  the  Anglo-Saxon,  and 
of  the  importance  that  lends  to  his  opinions — when  I  was 
in  Buenos  Aires  an  anarchist  exploded  a  bomb  in  the  great 
opera  house  in  the  midst  of  an  audience  of  Pan-American 
Latins.  What  happened?  First,  ask  yourself  what  would 
have  happened  if  a  bomb  had  exploded  in  the  Metropoli- 


MONROE  doctrine:  south  AMERICAN  VIEWPOINT       123 

tan  Opera  House  among  us  Anglo-Saxons; — I  fear  that  all 
of  us  who  are  honest  minded  will  reluctantly  agree  as  to 
the  probable  results.  Wliat  happened  in  Buenos  Aires? 
A  remarkable  scene,  which  is  a  glory  to  Argentine  citizen- 
ship. No  tumult,  no  undue  excitement.  The  injured  were 
removed  while  the  orchestra  played  the  national  anthem. 
Announcement  was  made  from  the  stage  that  the  perform- 
ance was  discontinued,  and  the  audience  filed  quietly  out. 
If  you  had  been  there  you  would  have  been  as  proud 
of  those  people  as  I  was — as  proud  of  their  poise,  and  of 
their  reserve  strength  of  character,  and  furthermore  as  re- 
spectful of  their  viewpoint,  as  the  most  enthusiastic  be- 
liever in  the  future  of  our  hemisphere  could  wish.  When 
I  reflect  upon  that  surprising  scene,  I  ask  myself  why  have 
we  throughout  all  our  history  constantly  disregarded  the 
opinion  of  our  Latin  sister  republics,  and  have  failed  to 
take  them  into  our  councils. 

I  believe  and  I  affirm  that  we  have  almost  always  sought 

jto  be  not  only  just  in  our  dealings  with  those  republics,  but 

also  have  tried  to  do  what  we  thought  was  best  for  them. 

But  why  have  we  so  persistently,  so  ignorantly,  so  blunder- 

ingly  disregarded  their  viewpoint,  even  carelessly  neglected 

to  study  It!    JtnH^  what  of  the  31onroe  Doctrine  in  this 

connection.     If  a  fellow-countryman  expresses  the  opinion 

that  it  should  be  abolished,  I  say  to  him  "Will  you  go  to  the 

logical  conclusion  to  which  that  suggestion  inevitably  leads, 

and  say  you  are  willing  that  any  part  of  America  shall  be  turned 

into  an  Egypt,  a  Tripoli,  an  Algeria,  or  a  Morocco?"     If  he 

tells  me  the  Monroe  Doctrine  is  good  enough  as  it  is,  I  say 

to  him  "Go  and  live  in  one  of  the  great  countries  of  South 

America  for  a  couple  of  years,  learn  their  point  of  view,  and 

(then  t^U  us  if  you  are  contented  that  our  great  country,  our 

Alear  fatherland   should  go  on   being   misunderstood   as  a 

/  Monroe  Doctrine  policeman,  a  clumsy  busybody,  when  you 

/  and  I  know  so  differently,  and  when  this  misunderstanding' 

can  be  so  easily  rectified!"     Wliy  should  we  not  meet  this 

misunderstanding  now  existing  in  South  America  with  the 

same  splendid  directness  that  President  Cleveland  used  in 

the   Venezuela   difficulty,   or  President   McKinley   in   the 


124  CHARLES   H.    SHERILL 

Cuban  affair!  There  are  friends  of  mine,  dear  friends  of 
mine,  sleeping  beneath  the  waving  grasses  on  a  certain  Cuban 
hillside,  and  there  can  be  no  misunderstanding  as  to  whether 
or  not  they  laid  down  their  lives  for  anything  else  than  the 
highest  ideals  of  Pan-Americanism.  And  what  is  the  view- 
point of  the  Latin-American  upon  the  Monroe  Doctrine, 
and  how  by  frankly  meeting  it  can  we  stop  it  from  seeming 
to  him  unilateral  and  constabulary,  and  make  it  Pan-Ameri- 
can in  scope?  Last  January,  on  a  day  when  my  heart  was 
deeply  touched  by  receiving  through  the  Argentine  Minis- 
ter a  gold  medal  sent  me  by  the  Argentine  people,  I  ven- 
tured a  brief  suggestion  upon  our  to-day's  subject,  prompted 
by  my  knowledge  of  and  love  for  our  Pan-Americanized 
Latin  brothers.  This  suggestion  was,  thanks  to  three 
powerful  institutions  (one  Argentine,  and  the  other  two  in 
New  York),  cabled  to  nearly  three  hundred  Latin- Ameri- 
can newspapers.  That  they  unanimously  approved  the 
suggestion  emboldens  me  to  quote  from  it  today,  since  that 
wide  approval  indicates  that  my  heart  must  have  helped 
my  head  to  grasp  their  viewpoint. 

After  jQrst  strongly  opposing  intervention  in  Mexico,  I 
said:  "Let  us  see  if  this  present  discussion  of  interven- 
tion may  not  perhaps  afford  an  opportunity  to  set  ua 
right  upon  the  subject  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  in  the 
eyes  of  all  Latin  America,  and  at  the  same  time  provide  a 
possible  solution  of  the  very  question  of  inten^ention  itself. 
Now,  for  my  new  suggestion:  Suppose  affairs  should  take 
so  serious  a  turn  in  Mexico  that,  either  to  forestall  an 
armed  intervention  there  by  some  European  power  seeking 
to  defend  its  citizens  or  else  to  perform  like  service  for 
some  citizens  of  our  own  hemisphere,  it  finally  becomes 
necessary  under  the  terms  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  that 
the  United  States  inter\'ene,  I  would  suggest  that  we  in- 
vite Argentina  or  Brazil  or  some  other  American  country 
to  join  with  us.  What  would  be  the  result  of  such  an  invi- 
tation? It  would  have  two  marked  tendencies,  both  of  which 
would  be  highly  desirable:  First,  it  would  entirely  remove 
any  idea  among  our  South  American  neighbors  that  our 
purpose  was  land  grabbing,  because  a  man  does  not  invite 


MONROE  DOCTRINE'.:  SOUTH  AMERICAN  VIEWPOINT       125 

his  neighbors  to  accompany  him  on  an  errand  intended  to 
benefit  him  alone.  Seco.odly,  and  in  my  opinion,  of  equal 
importance,  it  would  free  our  government  from  the  persis- 
tent importunities  of  individuals  and  corporations  urging 
our  sole  intervention  to  benefit  their  own  pockets,  but  who 
would  not  favor  a  joint  intervention  by  us  along  with  other 
powers.  Furthermore  it  would  be  the  best  and  most  con- 
vincing form  of  invitation  to  Latin  America  to  participate 
equally  with  us  in  the  responsibilities  and  development  of  the 
Monroe  Doctrine.  The  great  Doctrine  would  at  once  be- 
come continental,  and  cease  to  be  unilateral,  which  is  to-day 
its  one  great  defect.  It  is  not  the  duty  of  the  United  States 
to  police  Latin  America,  and  the  sooner  we  get  that  idea 
spread  broadcast,  not  only  in  South  America  but  also  in 
North  America,  the  better  will  it  be  for  our  international 
repute.  Whenever  under  the  terms  of  the  Monroe  Doc- 
trine, an  occasion  for  armed  intervention  in  this  hemi- 
sphere arises,  let  us,  in  each  and  eveiy  instance,  invite 
participation  in  that  responsibility  from  othv>r  American 
countries,  all  of  which  are  equally  concerned  in  Jie  benefits 
and  responsibilities  of  that  Doctrine."^ 

That  was  what  I  said  last  January,  and  I  feel  it  even 
more  strongly  today. 

I  hope  and  believe  that  there  will  be  no  armed  interven- 
tion in  Mexico,  and  in  his  resolute  effort  to  obviate  the 
necessity  therefor.  President  Wilson  deserves  the  support 
of  every  patriotic  citizen  of  our  country.  Whatever  may  be 
the  personal  opinion  of  individuals  as  to  details  or  methods, 
this  is  no  time  to  discuss  them,  lest  the  discussion  be  mis- 
understood abroad. 

I  don't  claim  to  know  the  South  Americans  better  than 
many  others  do,  but  I  do  claim  that  no  foreigner  has  ever 
liked  them  better  than  I  do,  and  therefore  am  I  earnestly 
eager  to  have  their  opinion  seriously  studied,  and  courte- 
ously accorded  the  consideration  which  it  richly  deserves. 


/ 

SHOULD  WE  ABANDON  ^   <         ONROE  DOCTRINE? 

By  Hiram   Bingham,  Pk.D.^^  Assistant  Professor  of  Latinr 
American  IJi.-iory,  )  ale  University 

"The  Monroe  "f^nrtrinfe,  or  the  doctrine  of  the  dual  polit- 
ical organization  nfltinas  of  the  earth,  is  a  barbaric 
stumbUng-blocP  .  of  enlightened  international 
policy."  So  wrote  th^^  ?ate  William  Graham  Summer,  in 
an  essay  on  "Earth  - .           ,"  in  1897. 

At  that  time,  very  litt.le  .attention  was  paid  to  his  remarks. 
Prof essor  Sunix. ,  ]  s  -vay  of  being  many  years  ahead  of 
public  opinion  in  his  a*,,  .ude  toward  political  and  economic 
policies. 

During  the  past  few  months  the  number  of  people  who 
have  come  to  take  an  unfriendly  attitude  toward  the  ]\Ion- 
roe  Doctrine  has  very  greatly  increased.  True,  this  national 
shibboleth  is  still  a  plank  in  the  platforms  of  our  great  national 
parties.  In  many  quarters  it  is  still  a  rallying  Qvy.  A  great 
chain  of  newspapers,  extending  from  San  Francisco  to  Bos- 
ton, edited  by  the  most  highly  paid  editorial  writer  of  the 
day,  constantly  refers  to  the  Monroe  Doctrine  as  something 
sacred  and  precious,  like  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 
Other  powerful  newspapers,  less  popular  in  their  appeal, 
but  no  less  powerful  in  their  influence,  still  resent  any  attack 
on  what  is  considered  by  them  the  most  essential  feature 
of  our  foreign  policy.  And  they  continue  to  uphold  the 
Monroe  Doctrine,  while  at  the  same  time  they  try  to  ex- 
plain away  its  disagreeable  features. 

A  recent  editorial  in  a  journal  devoted  to  the  interests 
of  the  army  and  navy,  in  vigorously  denouncing  the  present 
attacks  being  made  on  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  and  calling 
loudly  on  patriotic  Americans  to  see  to  it  that  no  academic 
sentimentalists  were  allowed  to  weaken  our  national  de- 
fenses, declared  that  without  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  we 
could  not  hold  the  Panama  Canal! 

126 


SHOULD  WE  ABANDON  THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  1  27 

It  would  have  been  just  as  logical  to  say  that  without 
the  Monroe  Doctrine  we  could  not  Iiold  Hawaii,  or  Key 
West,  or  Boston  harbor.  The  Panama  Canal  is  one  of  the 
possessions  of  the  United  States.  Its  defense  is  a  national 
right  and  a  national  duty.  In  defending  the  Panama  Canal 
as  in  defending  Key  West  or  Boston  harbor,  we  have  back 
of  us  the  most  universally  accepted  principles  of  interna- 
tional law.  In  upholding  the  Alonroe  Doctrine,  on  the 
other  hand,  we  are  merely  upholding  what  has  been  believed 
for  many  years  to  be  a  useful  foreign  policy,  but  one  that 
has  no  standing  in  international  law,  and  is,  in  fact,  neither 
law  nor  doctrine  but  merely  a  declaration  of  policy  having 
to  do  with  our  relations  with  foreign  nations. 

Consequently,  in  considering  the  question  as  the  whether 
we  should  abandon  the  Monroe  Doctrine  or  not,  we  must 
first  clear  our  minds  of  anj'  idea  that  the  maintenance  or 
abandonment  of  this  poHcy  is  in  any  way  synonymous 
with  the  maintenance  or  abandonment  of  our  national  de- 
fenses, be  they  in  Hawaii,  Boston  harbor,  or  the  Panama 
Canal.  Of  course,  it  is  perfectly  true  that  to  maintain  a 
vigorous  foreign  policy  and  one  that  is  at  all  unpopular, 
means  the  maintenance  of  an  efficient  army  and  navy. 
But  without  any  vigorous  foreign  pohcy,  we  should,  at  the 
same  time,  need  an  army  and  a  navy,  and  both  ought  to  be 
efhcient  for  the  same  reason  that  every  city  needs  an  efficient 
police  force. 

/  In  considering  the  advisability  of  abandoning  the  Mon- 
roe Doctrine,  let  us  attempt  to  get  clearly  in  mind  exactly 
-what  is  meant  by  the  Monroe  Doctrine.  We  shall  find  thatl 
*at  different  periods  of  our  history,  it  has  meant  very  dif- ' 
ferent  things,  ^\^lcn  it  was  promulgated  by  President 
Monroe  in  1823,  it  meant  that  we  were  afraid  that  the  rising 
wave  of  monaiThy  and  despotism  in  Europe  might  over- 
whelm the  struggling  rei)ublics  in  the  New  World.  We 
were,  in  a  sense,  in  the  position  of  the  big  brother  on  the 
edge  of  the  swimming  pool,  who  sees  his  little  brothers  swim- 
ming under  water  and  about  to  come  to  the  surface;  and  who 
also  sees  a  couple  of  bullies  getting  ready  to  duck  them  before 
*iey  can  get  their  breath.    As  a  matter  of  fact,  this  was 


128  HIRAM    BINGHAM 

the  only  republic,  at  that  tune,  that  had  come  to  the  sur- 
face, scrambled  on  to  the  bank,  and  shown  itself  able  to 
stand  on  its  own  legs.  The  little  fellows  in  Spanish- America 
were  swimming  hard,  but  they  had  not  got  their  heads 
above  water.  We  believed  it  to  be  for  our  interests  to  see 
that  they  had  a  square  deal  and  were  not  interfered  with 
as  they  came  to  the  surface.  We  promulgated  a  high- 
minded,  unselfish  policy,  without  a  thought  of  gaining 
prestige  or  power  in  Latin- America,  We  bravely  warned 
the  nations  of  the  continent  of  Europe  not  to  attempt  to 
inflict  their  system  of  government  on  any  land  in  the 
western  hemisphere,  where  a  democratic  or  republican 
form  of  government  had  established  itself. 

From  such  a  high-minded  and  altruistic  position  at  this, 
it  is  a  far  cry  to  the  connotation  which  goes  with  the  Mon- 
roe Doctrine  in  the  minds  of  many  American  citizens  of 
today.  Our  people  have  been  taught  by  jingoistic  poli- 
ticians, like  the  heelers  of  Tammany  Hall,  to  believe  that 
the  Monroe  Doctrine  means  that  it  is  our  duty  to  keep 
America  in  order;  that  it  is  our  policy  to  allow  Europe  to 
have  nothing  to  say  about  the  American  republics,  and  that 
it  would  be  a  national  disgrace,  almost  unthinkable,  for  us 
to  abandon  this  sacred  shibboleth.  It  was  a  Tammany 
Hall  orator,  according  to  Professor  Hart,  who  said,  "Tam- 
many Hall  is  a  benevolent  institution;  Tammany  Hall  is  a 
patriotic  institution;  Tammany  Hall  has  the  honor  of  being 
the  first  to  propose  that  immortal  Monroe  Doctrine  which 
blesses  and  revivifies  the  world." 

And  it  was  a  former  Tammany  politician,  who,  on  being 
questioned  in  regard  to  our  present  policy  with  Mexico, 
stated,  a  few  days  ago,  that  under  the  Monroe  Doctrine 
it  was  our  duty  to  go  in  and  annex  Mexico,  and  the  sooner 
we  did  it,  the  better. 

It  is  a  far  cry  from  the  Monroe  Doctrine  of  1823  to  the 
Monroeism  of  our  politicians  and  newspapers  at  the  present 
day.  /In  1823,  this  declaration  of  foreign  policy  made  a 
profound  impression  on  Europe,  and  won  us  the  gratitu(^ 
and  the  eulogies  of  the  Latin-American  republics.     At  ' 
present  time,  there  is  no  question  that  the  Monroe  ^ 


SHOULD  WE  ABANDON  THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  120 

trine_is-iL-cause  of  world-wide  irritation  and  is  almost  uni- 
vprsnlly  li:|ted  throughout  Latin- America^ i In  the  words 
of  a  careful  student  of  Pan-. American  affairs,  who  has  lived 
many  years  in  various  parts  of  Spanish  America,  ''the  two 
principal  results  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  are:  intense  ha- 
tred of  the  United  States  on  the  part  of  powerful  and  self- 
respecting  South  American  nations,  able  and  willing  to  meet 
their  responsibilities  to  the  countries  to  whom  they  are  under 
obligations;  and  an  attempt  at  evasion  of  these  responsibil- 
ities by  other  Latin- American  countries,  who,  while  using 
the  Doctrine  where  they  think  they  can  for  such  a  purpose, 
equally  hate  the  originators  of  it." 

Contrast  this  with  that  memorable  sentence  in  ]\Ir,  Cleve- 
land's message  to  Congress  regarding  the  Venezuela  bound- 
ary dispute,  in  which  he  said  that  the  Monroe  Doctrine 
"was  intended  to  apply  to  every  stage  of  our  national  life, 
and  cannot  become  obsolete  while  our  republic  endures." 

This  was  quoted  by  the  editor  of  the  New  York  Times 
in  a  recent  article  in  the  Century,  in  which  the  part  played 
by  the  Monroe  Doctrine  in  the  Venezuela  dispute  was  care- 
fully brought  out.  In  a  recent  number  of  the  Times,  in  an 
editorial  discussion  of  the  present  writer's  proposal  to  re- 
gard the  Monroe  Doctrine  as  obsolete,  it  was  admitted  that 
the  Monroe  Doctrine  was,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  a  purely  self- 
ish policy.     These  were  the  words  used : 

The  Monroe  Doctrine  was  declared  by  us  with  reference  to  our 
own  interests,  and  is  maintained  for  no  other  reason.  It  was  not 
declared  with  direct  regard  or  thought  of  the  interests  of  the 
weaker  republics  of  the  continent,  and  it  will  be  maiotainetl — or 
abandoned — with  more  thought  of  our  interests  than  of  theirs. 

If  that  is  the  ablest  defence  which  can  be  made  for  the 
doctrine  in  its  present  form,  it  is  not  surprising  that  we  find 
so  much  opposition  to  it  on  the  part  of  our  southern  neigh- 
bors. General  Re^'es,  former  president  of  the  Republic  of 
Colombia,  said  recently: 

Having  for  many  j'cars  closely  followed,  step  by  step,  the  de- 
velopment of  the  American  republics  and  the  convulsions  of  their 
ardent  and  vexed  democracies.  1  am  more  than  ever  convinced 
that  unity  of  action  with  the  Unitctl  States  is  necessary  to  ini- 


130  HIRAM    BINGHAM 

tiate  the  advent  of  that  glorious  future  to  which  they  are  so  mani- 
festly entitled.  But  that  unity  of  action  can  only  be  accomplished 
by  the  removal  of  the  causes  which  have  led  to  the  prevailing 
doubts,  jealousies,  and  suspicions. 

In  my  opinion,  the  Panama  Canal  will  solve  manj'  of  the  diffi- 
culties which  owe  their  existence  to  the  present  lack  of  intercourse 
between  the  people  of  the  north  and  those  of  the  south,  but  even 
that  beneficial  change  of  conditions  \vill  not  serve  by  itself  to  erad- 
icate the  evils  of  the  past.  There  must  be  a  wider  recognition 
of  the  fact  that  the  relations  of  the  United  States  with  the  Latin 
republics  are  those  of  a  friendly,  powerful  neighbor,  with  no  other 
objects  than  the  advantages  to  be  gained  from  the  ties  of  sister- 
hood and  the  extension  of  commerce.  There  must  be  a  saner 
propaganda  as  to  the  inalienable  sovereign  rights  and  complete  inde- 
pendence of  even  the  smallest  of  the  Latin  States.  There  must 
be  no  "big  stick,"  and  no  such  use  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  as  to 
make  it  an  instrument  of  terror  to  the  smaller  republics,  and  a 
subject  for  ridicule  in  the  greater  countries  of  the  South. 

The  more  advanced  Latin  nations  appreciate  and  sympa- 
thize with  the  benevolent  designs  and  objects  of  that  doctrine, 
as  is  shown  by  the  formulation  of  their  own  doctrine,  intended 
to  protect  the  smaller  states  against  the  employment  of  armed 
force  by  foreign  nations  for  the  collection  of  contractual  debts. 
But  they  resent  the  spirit  of  domination  and  tutelage  which  implies 
that  they  need  the  protection  of  the  United  States  against  foreign  ag- 
gression.    (The  itaUcs  are  mine.) 

It  is  easy  to  understand  the  cause  of  such  remarks  when 
one  calls  to  rnind  the  thoughtless  jingoism  of  some  of  our 
newspapers  and  the  more  intelligent  selfishness  of  some  of 
our  leading  editorial  writers. 

It  would  be  easy  to  multiply  quotations  from  North  Amer- 
ican writers  and  newspapers  which  justify  the  fears  and 
liatred  of  Latin  America.  And  it  would  be  equally  easy 
to  gather  many  paragraphs  from  Spanish  and  French  au- 
thors to  illustrate  what  forms  this  distrust  and  hatred  take. 
I  have  already  called  attention  to  a  number  of  these  in  the 
little  book  just  referred  to.^ 

Why  is  it  that  it  is  so  difficult  for  us  to  formulate  an  an- 
swer to  the  question  as  to  what  the  Monroe  Doctrine  really 
means?  Because  there  are  probably  no  two  words  in  Ameri- 
can history  which  have  been  more  variousl}'  interpreted, 
which  have  meant  more  things  to  more  people,  and  which 
have  been  more  highly  praised  by  some  and  more  bitterly 

•The  Monroe  Doctrine  an  Obsolete  Shibboleth,  Yale  Univ.  Press. 


SHOULD  WE  ABANDON'  THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE      131 

condemned  by  others.  What  is  the  reason  of  this  confu- 
sion? 

I  believe  that  the  reason  is  that  these  two  words  "Monroe 
Doctrine"  have  come  to  be  used  by  us  in  place  of  two  other 
words  that  are  less  interesting  and  less  significant,  namely, 
"foreign  policy."  Our  foreign  policy  is  the  ^Monroe  Doc- 
trine. Whatever  our  foreign  policy  happens  to  be  for  the 
moment,  it  is  called  the  "^Monroe  Doctrine."  Do  we  decide 
to  intervene  in  Cuba,  we  do  not  say  that  we  believe  it  to 
be  for  our  best  interests  as  a  nation  to  overstep  the  bounds 
of  international  law  and  to  carry  our  intervention  into  a 
neighboring  territory.  We  wave  a  banner  and  call  it  the 
Monroe  Doctrine.  Are  we  too  busy  at  home  to  intervene 
between  Spain  and  Chile  when  they  go  to  war  and  when 
Spain  bombards  the  port  of  Valparaiso?  We  declare  that 
the  Monroe  Doctrine  does  not  mean  that  we  shall  interfere 
in  any  righteous  war.  Do  we  wish  to  take  any  part  of 
Spanish-American  territory  which  we  need  or  which  is 
being  badly  governed?  We  refer  our  actions  to  the  Mon- 
roe Doctrine.  It  is  no  wonder  that  Monroeism,  as  it  is 
called  in  South  America,  has  come  to  mean  to  the  Latin- 
American  mind  interference,  intervention,  tutelage  and 
patronizing  insolence.  This  connotation  does  us  infinite 
harm. 

The  truth  is,  instead  of  facing  squarely  the  question  of 
what  is  the  best  foreign  poHcy  for  us  to  follow,  we  cloud 
our  minds  with  this  national  shibboleth;  we  remember 
that  it  is  nearly  one  hundred  years  old;  we  believe  that  it 
has  done  a  great  deal  of  good  in  keeping  Europe  from  crush- 
ing the  life  out  of  incipient  South  American  republics;  we 
feel  that  it  is  a  benevolent  institution,  and,  therefore,  we 
brand  whatever  selfish  or  unselfish  policy  we  adopt  for  the 
moment  with  the  words  "^lonroe  Doctrine." 

It  would  seem  as  though  for  the  very  sake  of  clarifying 
our  own  ideas  and  placing  our  foreign  policy  on  a  logical 
foundation,  it  would  be  well  for  us  to  abandon  a  combina- 
tion of  words  which  stands  for  so  many  different  things  to 
so  many  different  people. 

It  can  be  fairly  said  that  the  United  States  has  had  as 


132  HIHAM    BINGHAM 

many  ideals  and  has  fought  for  as  high  ideals  as  any  nation 
in  history.  The  calm  judgment  of  our  foreign  critics  some- 
times is  willing  to  admit  that  we  have  been  more  idealistic 
than  any  modern  nation.  We  once  shed  a  vast  amount 
of  blood  and  treasure  in  order  to  suppresss  an  economic 
institution  called  slavery,  largely  because  it  was  not  our 
ideal  of  the  right  way  to  progress  toward  higher  things. 
We  went  to  war  with  Spain  largely  for  the  sake  of  giving 
Cuba  her  freedom,  and  then,  contrary  to  the  belief  of  most 
of  the  world  who  were  looking  on,  we  did  not  keep  Cuba, 
but  gave  her  independence.  Knowing  this  and  other 
things  of  a  similar  nature,  we  sometimes  flatter  ourselves 
,  that  our  motives  are  always  correct,  and  chiefly  idealistic. 
\  And  the  worst  of  it  is,  we  sometimes  so  blind  ourselves  with 
\  the  dazzling  spectacle  of  our  unselfishness  that  we  cannot 
see  our  selfishness.  In  the  case  of  Cuba,  for  instance,  we 
were  so  pleased  with  our  unselfish  sacrifices,  that  we  shut 
our  eyes  to  the  fact  that  while  we  were  giving  Cuba  free- 
dom, we  were  taking  Porto  Rico  and  the  Philippines  and 
Guam,  and  a  very  useful  naval  base  at  the  east  end  of 
Cuba,  and  putting  them  in  our  pockets.  The  world  did 
not  say  that  the  Spanish-American  war  gave  us  no  reward 
for  our  pains. 

Before  deciding  whether  we  ought  to  abandon  the  Mon- 
roe Doctrine  and  considering  what  ought  to  be  our  policy 
for  the  future,  let  us  review  a  few  of  the  more  striking  fea- 
tures of  our  foreign  policy  since  1823. 

For  twenty  years  after  the  promulgation  of  the  Monroe 
Doctrine,  we  were  regarded  with  extraordinary  friendliness 
throughout  Spanish-,\merica.  Our  willingness  to  recog- 
nize the  independence  of  the  newly-fledged  republics;  our 
willingness  to  protect  them  from  European  aggression,  and 
our  generous  non-interference  with  them  in  the  time  of  their 
greatest  weakness,  earned  us  their  gratitude.  But  in  1846 
came  the  war  with  Mexico,  one  of  those  independent  repub- 
lics that  we  were  going  to  protect.  We  had  stated  in  the 
original  Monroe  Doctrine  that  it  was  the  true  policj"^  of  the 
United  States  to  leave  the  new  governments  of  Spanish- 
America  to  themselves,  in  the  hope  that  other  powers  would 


SHOULD  WE  ABANDON  THE  MONROE  DOCTIilNE  133 

pursue  the  same  course.  And  yet,  we  did  not  hesitate,  at 
the  conclusion  of  the  war  with  Mexico,  to  take  away  from  her 
nearly  one  half  her  area.  It  did  not  help  matters  that  a 
year  or  two  later,  gold  was  discovered  in  California.  It 
did  not  increase  our  popuhirity  in  Spanish-America  when 
it  appeared  that  we  were  getting  enormously  wealthy  out 
of  the  gold  and  silver  mines  in  California  and  Nevada, 
which  we  had  so  recently  taken  by  force  from  Mexico,  even 
though  we  had  paid  815,000,000  for  what  we  took.  It  may 
be  replied  that  it  was  far  better  for  California  and  Nevada 
that  we  should  have  taken  them,  and  that  we  could  afford 
to  stand  the  unpopularity  that  this  engendered  in  South 
America.  Granting  for  the  sake  of  argument  that  this  is 
true,  why  not  admit  frankly  that  when  we  took  California 
and  Nevada,  we  went  contrary  to  the  principles  laid  down 
by  President  Monroe  in  his  famous  message  of  1823. 

In  1898,  we  went  to  war  with  Spain,  and  eventually  took 
away  all  her  American  possessions.  We  believed  ourselves 
justified  in  so  doing,  I  hold  no  brief  against  the  justifica- 
tion of  that  war.  It  was  undoubtedly  a  good  thing  for 
Spain.  Many  Spaniards  will  admit  this  today.  Their 
country  has  been  stronger  and  their  economic  condition  has 
improved  since  they  lost  their  foreign  possessions.  But 
President  Monroe  had  said  that  "With  the  existing  colo- 
nies or  dependencies  of  any  European  power,  we  have  not 
interfered  and  shall  not  interfere."  Is  it  not  i)erfectly 
evident  that  in  1898  we  regarded  the  Monroe  Doctrine 
as  outgrown,  and  said  to  ourselves  that  we  could  afford 
to  disregard  one  of  the  most  positive  sentences  in  the  origi- 
nal declaration  of  President  Monroe?  Why  should  we  still 
feel  that  there  is  something  so  sacred  in  this  national  shib- 
boleth of  ours  that,  although  we  have  repeatedly'  gone  con- 
trary to  it  wiien  it  suited  us  to  do  so,  we  must  still  cling  to 
it  as  a  precious  thing,  without  which  our  own  independence 
would  be  in  danger  of  being  lost? 

In  1906,  Secretary  Root  made  his  well-known  tour  of 
South  America.  It  has  been  said  that  this  tour  was  made 
necessary  owing  to  the  fear  of  the  United  States  aroused 
throughout  South  America,  by  some  of  President  Roose- 


134  HIRAM    BINGHAM 

velt's  messages  to  Congress,  in  which  he  took  pains  to  re- 
assert the  Monroe  Doctrine,  and  in  which  he  accepted,  quite 
logically,  the  very  great  responsibilities  which  the  main- 
tenance of  a  polic3'-  of  "America  for  the  Americans"  en- 
tailed upon  us.     He  had  said  in  1905: 

When  we  announce  a  policy,  such  as  the  Monroe  Doctrine, 
we  thereby  commit  ourselves  to  the  consequences  of  the  policy, 
and  those  consequences  from  time  to  time  alter.  It  is  out  of  the 
question  to  claim  a  right  and  then  to  shirk  the  responsibility  for 
its  exercise.  Not  only  we,  but  all  American  republics  who  are 
benefited  by  the  existence  of  the  Doctrine,  must  recognize  the 
obligations  each  nation  is  under  as  regards  foreign  peoples  no  less 
than  its  duty  to  insist  upon  its  own  rights. 

After  the  opening  of  the  third  session  of  the  Fifty-Eighth 
Congress,  Mr.  Roosevelt  had  said: 

Any  country  whose  people  conduct  themselves  well  can  count 
upon  our  hearty  friendship.  If  a  nation  shows  that  it  knows  how 
to  act  with  reasonable  efficiency  and  decency  in  social  and  polit- 
ical matters,  if  it  keeps  order  and  pays  its  obligations,  it  need 
fear  no  interference  from  the  United  States.  Chronic  wrong- 
doing, or  an  impotence  which  results  in  a  general  loosening  of 
the  ties  of  civilized  society,  may  in  America,  as  elsewhere,  ulti- 
mately require  intervention  by  some  civilized  nation,  and  in  the 
western  hemisphere,  the  adherence  of  the  United  States  to  the 
Monroe  Doctrine  may  force  the  United  States,  however  reluctantly, 
in  flagrant  cases  of  such  wrongdoing  or  impotence,  to  the  exer- 
cise of  an  international  pohce  power. 

These  official  utterances  had  greatly  alarmed  and  annoyed 
the  South  American  republics,  and  it  was  no  small  part  of 
Secretary  Root's  visit  to  quiet  their  fears  and  assure  them 
of  the  pacific  quality  of  our  intentions.  So  well  did  Mr. 
Root  do  this,  so  ably  had  he  prepared  himself  by  the  study 
of  South  American  history,  so  favorable  an  impression  did 
he  make  by  his  dignified  and  courteous  bearing,  and  so 
profound  a  conviction  did  his  words  convey,  coming  as  they 
did  from  the  actual  head  of  our  department  of  foreign  affairs, 
that  great  good  was  accomplished,  and  an  era  of  friendship 
and  good-will  was  ushered  in. 

The  most  striking  effect  of  this  was  to  be  seen  in  Chile. 
Owing  to  a  series  of  misunderstandings,  including  the  blun- 
ders of  an  over-zealous  diplomat,  the  wrong-headed  ideas 


SHOULD  WE  ABANDON  THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  135 

of  many  .Vmerican  newspapers,  and  the  seeming  interfer- 
ence of  American  warships  during  the  great  Chilean  civil 
war  of  1891,  we  had  become  extremely  unpopular  in  that 
vigorous  republic  of  the  South  Pacific.  Then  had  followed 
the  deplorable  Baltimore  incident,  when  a  number  of  our 
sailors  on  shore-leave  in  the  port  of  Valparaiso,  got  into 
trouble  with  some  of  the  rougher  elements  of  the  port,  and 
a  few  were  killed  and  several  more  wounded.  We  had  lost 
our  patience  with  what  we  termed  Chilean  dilatory  conduct; 
we  took  the  law  into  our  own  hands,  and  eventually  we 
issued  an  ultimatum  to  Chile  demanding  financial  redress. 
There  was  nothing  for  her  to  do  but  to  grant  our  request. 
But  the  scar  was  long  in  healing,  and  it  may  fairly  be  said 
that  we  had  less  cordial  friends  in  Chile  than  in  any  other 
American  republic,  with  the  possible  exception  of  Colombia, 
Mr.  Root's  visit  to  South  .Vmerica  and  his  able  exposition 
of  our  foreign  policy,  changed  the  attitude  of  the  Chileans 
to  a  \'ery  marked  degree.  They  took  the  first  opportunity 
of  showing  their  change  of  heart. 

The  Fourth  Latin-.\merican  Scientific  Congress  was  due 
to  be  held  in  Santiago  in  December,  1908.  Former  con- 
gresses of  this  nature  had  been  held  in  Argentina,  Brazil, 
and  Uruguay.  The  organization  committee  for  the  fourth 
congress  was  composed  entirely  of  Chileans.  They  decided 
that  in  consequence  of  the  new  and  friendly  attitude  of  the 
United  States,  it  would  be  an  appropriate  thing  to  make 
the  Congress  not  Latin-.Vmerican,  but  Pan-American,  and 
to  invite  the  participation  of  the  /Vmerican  government, 
and  of  universities  and  other  scientific  bodies  in  the  United 
States.  Secretary  Root  saw  the  advantages  that  would 
accrue  to  the  United  States  in  properly  accepting  such  an 
invitation.  In  accordance  with  his  ideas,  the  United  States 
congress  passed  a  suitable  appropriation  to  send  ten  dele- 
gates from  this  country  to  Chile.  These  delegates  were 
received  with  the  utmost  courtesy  and  given  the  best  of 
everything.  It  was  with  difficulty  that  tlic}'  avoided  of- 
fence in  declining  a  few  of  the  many  honors  showered  upon 
them.  At  the  end  of  the  month  which  they  spent  in  Chile, 
it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  relations  between  Chile  and  the 


; 


136  HIRAM    BINGHAM 

United  States  were  more  cordial  than  the}'  had  ever  been 
before.  Washington  was  selected  as  the  place  of  meeting 
for  the  second  Pan-American  Scientific  Congress,  and  Octo- 
ber, 1912,  was  designated  as  the  proper  time  for  it  to  meet. 

It  has  not  met  yet.     (November,  1913.) 

The  United  States  congress  was  asked  by  Secretary'-  Knox 
for  a  small  appropriation  of  150,000,  about  one-half  of 
what  Chile  had  appropriated  for  the  Scientific  Congress, 
when  it  had  met  in  Santiago,  to  provide  for  the  expenses 
of  the  Congress  that  should  meet  in  Washington  in  October, 
1912.  Unfortunately',  our  Congress  felt  too  poor  to  grant 
this  request,  and  although  the  appropriations  which  were 
passed  footed  up  somewhere  in  the  neighborhood  of  one 
billion  dollars,  the  item  of  §50,000  for  the  Scientific  Con- 
gress was  struck  out,  and  our  national  obligations  to  provide 
for  returning  the  hospitality  which  we  had  received,  were 
denied.  As  the  result  of  a  vigorous  protest  and  of/public 
sessions  of  the  House  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs,  in  the 
next  session  of  Congress  the  same  amount  was  again  re- 
quested and  the  appropriation  of  this  amount  was  unani- 
mously recommended  by  that  conmaittee.  The  passage 
of  the  appropriation,  however,  was  lost  on  some  flimsy  tech- 
nicality, and  our  national  honor  in  regard  to  the  obligations 
of  hospitality  still  remains  under  a  cloud.  Apparently,  it 
is  part  of  our  foreign  policy  to  accept  invitations  to  Pan- 
American  congresses,  but  not  to  provide  suitably  for  such 
congresses  when  they  have  to  meet  in  this  country.  As  the 
best-known  term  for  our  foreign  policy  throughout  Latin- 
America  is  Monroeism,  this  appears  to  our  neighbors  to  be 
one  of  the  attributes  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine. 

There  was  another  sequel  to  our  relations  with  Chile 
even  more  serious  than  not  providing  suitably  for  the  sec- 
ond Pan-American  Scientific  Congress.  By  sending  an 
ultimatum  demanding  the  immediate  settlement  of  the 
Alsop  claim.  Secretary  Knox  destroj^ed  in  three  minutes 
what  Secretaiy  Root  had  taken  three  j^ears  to  build  up.  The 
delicate  edifice  of  good-will  and  friendship  with  Chile,  which 
had  arisen  from  the  ashes  of  the  Baltimore  episode,  was 
destroyed  because  a  Secretary  of  State  felt  that  the  claim 


SHOULD  WE  ABANDON  THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE     137 

of  a  private  citizen  for  §1.000,000  had  been  left  too  long 
uiisettled.  This  is  not  the  place  to  go  into  the  details  of 
the  Alsop  claim.  Everyone  knows  that  Chile  inherited 
this  debt  from  Bolivia.  The  claim  was  recognized,  but 
there  was  postponement  in  its  settlement.  Chile  avoided 
tlie  dire  effects  of  Secretary  Knox's  idtunatum  by  deposit- 
ing $1,000,000  in  the  Bank  of  England,  and  requesting  that 
the  ownership  of  this  sum  be  decided  by  the  Hague  Trib- 
unal. At  least,  so  it  was  reported  in  the  newspapers. 
Such  matters  are  too  recent  to  make  it  wise  for  the  State 
Department  to  allow  its  records  to  be  used  as  the  basis  of  a 
thorough  history  of  that  episode.  But  there  is  no  question 
about  the  results.  The  claunant  eventually  got  his  money, 
and  we  lost  the  cordial  friendship  of  Chile.  In  the  discus- 
sion which  followed  in  the  Chilean  congress,  a  speech  was 
made  by  the  aged  Senator  Vicente  Reyes  on  July  26,  1911. 
Said  Senator  Reyes: 

It  seems  to  me  that  no  Chilean  is  to  blame  for  what  has  taken 
[)lace;  every  one  has  endeavored,  in  the  role  that  corresponded 
to  him,  to  further  the  public  interests  in  the  most  convenient  man- 
ner. The  fault,  the  real  fault — and  it  is  necessary  to  declare  it 
publicly,  and  I  can  say  it  better  than  another  because  I  have  no 
intervention,  either  in  the  acts  of  the  government,  or  in  the  active 
political  life,  from  which  I  am  removed  by  reason  of  my  age,  so 
that  in  pronouncing  my  opinion,  my  own  exclusive  opinion,  I  com- 
promise nobody, — I  shall  say,  then,  that  the  fault  of  all  this  is 
owinR  to  the  intemperance  of  the  United  States  government  that 
has  made  an  excessive  use  of  its  power,  treating  us  as  barharmis 
tribes  were  treated  in  past  times,  imposing  on  us  an  ultimatum  and 
(giving  us  ten  days  in  which  to  perform  what  that  government 
believed  we  ought  to  do. 

In  the  following  year  on  August  2  of  1912,  a  resolution  was 
introduced  in  the  senate  of  the  United  States  by  Senator 
Lodge  of  MassacluKsetts,  which  has  been  regarded  through- 
out Latin-.Vmerica  as  a  still  further  extension  and  interpre- 
tation of  the  Monroe  Doctrine.  It  was  known  as  the  Alag- 
dalena  Bay  resolution.  The  subject  was  so  ably  treated 
in  an  editorial  in  the  American  Journal  of  International 
fjaw  (vol.  6,  p.  937)  that  I  take  the  liberty  of  quoting  it  in 
part: 


138  HIRAM    BINGHAM 

Midway  in  the  southerly  third  of  the  west  coast  of  Lower 
Cahfornia,  and  perhaps  3,000  miles  from  Panama,  is  a  large  bay. 
The  back  country  is  barren  and  thirsty,  but  on  the  shore  and  off 
it  is  moss  which  contains  a  dye  and  fish.  Lumber  and  cattle 
are  said  to  be  possibilities  also.  An  American  company  secured 
here  from  Mexico  a  large  tract  of  land,  several  million  acres,  which 
border  on  the  bay  and  run  back  from  it.  This  country  was  un- 
profitable. Its  chief  creditor,  a  New  Hampshire  lumberman, 
had  taken  it  over  and  tried  to  secure  himself  by  making  a  sale  to 
certain  Japanese  subjects.  Before  concluding  any  bargain,  how- 
ever, his  agent  very  properly  consulted  the  United  States  Depart- 
ment of  State  to  learn  its  attitude.  This  was  adverse,  it  being 
aware  of  the  outcry  sure  to  be  made  if  a  Japanese  coaling,  fishery, 
or  other  station  or  colony  were  to  be  established  on  our  side  of  the 
Pacific.  Nor  did  Mr.  Knox  look  with  more  favor  upon  a  sale  limit- 
ing the  ownership  of  the  Japanese  to  a  minority.  The  owner  and 
creditor  of  the  concession  seem  to  have  sought  Japanese  aid  in 
colonization  because  no  other  labor  there  was  available.  The 
Japanese  government  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the  scheme. 
Moreover,  by  Mexican  law  no  concession  holds  good  under  heavy 
penalty,  if  transfer  is  sought  by  the  concessionaires  to  a  foreign  govern- 
ment. 

This  was  the  situation  then,  when  the  susceptibilities  of  the 
Senate  were  aroused  last  July,  and  Mr.  Lodge  introduced  the  fol- 
lowing resolution: 

Resolved:  That  when  any  harbor  or  other  place  in  the  American 
continent  is  so  situated  that  the  occupation  thereof  for  naval  or  mili- 
tary purposes  might  threaten  the  communications  or  the  safety  of  the 
United  States,  the  government  of  the  United  States  could  not  see  with- 
out grave  concern  the  possession  of  such  harbor  or  other  place  by  any 
corporation  or  association  which  has  such  a  relation  to  another  govern- 
ment not  American  as  to  give  that  government  practical  power  of  con- 
trol for  national  purposes. 

It  is  understood  that  in  secret  session -for  the  last  word  but  one 
"national"  was  substituted  "naval  or  mihtary." 

A  Senate  resolution  is  an  expression  of  its  opinion.  This  reso- 
lution was  intended  to  be  an  announcement  of  national  policy  to 
foreign  powers.  It  was  introduced  after  information  had  been 
sought  from  the  President  on  the  subject.  This  went  to  show  that 
the  conduct  of  other  powers  in  regard  to  those  lands  had  been  en- 
tirely correct.  In  the  discussion  which  led  up  to  and  which  fol- 
lowed the  introduction  of  this  resolution  it  appeared  that  its  mover 
chose  not  to  regard  it  as  an  extension  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  but 
as  based  upon  the  law  of  right  of  self-defense  which  is  fundamen- 
tal, the  Agadir  incident  being  a  precedent.  But  in  Africa,  the 
German  action  was  ofl&cial,  governmental;  whereas  at  Magdalena 
Bay,  as  Senator  Rayner  had  well  brought  out  in  May,  it  was  a 
question  of  private  commercial  use  only.  Has  the  United  States 
a  right  to  assume  that  private  commercial  use  of  such  a  harbor 
as  this,  could  be  so  easily  converted  into  government  use  as  to 


SHOULD  WE  ABANDON  THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  1  39 

warrant  its  prohibition  bofore  any  sign  whatever  of  abuse  or  of 
danger  was  visible?  That  tixe  Senate  so  beheves  is  clear,  for  it 
passed  the  Lodge  resolution.  That  the  legal  mind  shares  this 
view  is  not  so  clear.  Let /us  state  it  in  general  terms.  On  the 
ground  of  self-defense  a  sta'te  may  forbid  its  neighbor  to  sell  lands 
of  strategic  value  to  tho^rivate  subjects  of  a  third  power,  there 
being  no  act,  but  mer^Rispicion  to  warrant  the  fear  that  the  third 
power  will  make  sijytcr  use  of  its  subjects'  property.  What 
becomes  of  the  so^Rign  right  of  the  neighbor  to  dispose  of  its 
lands,  for  commej^fl  development?  If  the  principle  of  self-de- 
fense is  unduly^Hetched,  will  it  not  break  down  and  become 
ridiculous?  I s^^  attitude  of  constant  suspicion  consistent  with 
international  ^^minllf 

This  n^^Bnase  of  our  foreign  policy,  which  aroused 
such  revJ^K  as  the  foregoing  in  the  United  States,  was, 
as  mid^He  suspected,  treated  even  more  vehemently,  not 
only  JWratin-America,  but  also  in  Europe.  In  La  Re- 
vista  ae  America  for  September,  1912,  Sr.  Jos6  de  Astoiga, 
commented  as  follows  (  I  give  a  free  translation) : 

The  Monroe  Doctrine  has  just  suffered  a  transformation  for 
the  benefit  of  Yankee  imperialism,  and  for  the  detriment  and 
diminution  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  Latin-American  republics, 
in  the  adoption  by  the  Senate  at  Washington  of  the  Lodge  Reso- 
lution. .  .  .  This  resolution,  reduced  to  its  simplest  terms, 
says  that  in  the  future  the  governments  of  the  I bero- American 
republics  are  prohibited  from  negotiating  with  any  foreign  com- 
panies for  the  cession  of  any  lands  for  the  purpose  of  merely  com- 
mercial or  industrial  ends,  without  the  previous  consent  of  the 

White  House Without  entering  into  any  discussion 

of  the  motives  which,  from  the  Yankee  point  of  view,  secured  the 
adoption  of  the  Lodge  proposal  by  a  nearly  unanimous  vote  [iW 
to  4]  of  the  North  American  Senate,  it  is  perfectly  evident  that 
this  proposal  cannot  lean  upon  the  so-called  Monroe  Doctrine 
as  originally  declared,  and  that,  furthermore,  it  involves  a  most 
odious  and  unwarranted  offense  against  the  sovereignty  and  the 
independence  of  the  Latin  republics  of  the  continent.  ...  If 
the  republics  which  occupy  the  territory  of  America  to  the  south 
of  the  United  States  are  independent  nations,  in  full  enjoyment  of 
their  political  sovereignty,  and  have  the  same  title  and  the  same 
capacity  in  the  family  of  nations  as  North  America  has,  then  neither 
the  Senate  nor  the  government  at  Washington  has  the  power  to 
proclaim  before  the  world,  as  a  rule  of  international  conduct  appli- 
cable to  the  territories  of  foreign  sovereigns,  the  Lodge  proposal. 

Anyhow,  the  importance  of  securing  concerted  movement  and 
unanimity  of  action  among  the  chancellarics  of  Latin-America 
in  order  to  offset  the  imperialistic  action  of  the  United  States, 
is  urgent,  and  is  of  supreme  importance.     The  protests  of  con- 


140  HIR.\M    BINGHAM 

fraternity,  of  disinterestedness,  and  of  respect  for  the  political 
sovereignty  and  the  commercial  independence  of  Latin-America, 
which  the  government  of  the  United  States  sets  forth  so  freely 
on  every  occasion,  are  not  able  to  counteract  nor  to  lessen  the 
eloquence  of  deeds,  and  these  are  the  deeds:  tutelage  over  Cuba; 
the  abduction  of  Panama;  the  embargo  on  the  custom  houses 
of  Santo  Domingo;  economic  and  military  intervention  in  Central 
America;  the  "big  stick;"  dollar  diplomacy,  and  the  Lodge  dec- 
laration. 

f  Here  we  have  the  Latin-American  judgment  on  the  Mon- 
I  roe  Doctrine  in  a  nutshell.  We  can  on  occasion  make 
\charming  speeches.  We  can  claim  that  our  foreign  policy 
is  idealistic,  and  we  can  point  to  the  Monroe  Dpctrine  as 
evidence  of  our  willingness  to  protect  the  weakei^against 
the  stronger.  Actions  speak  louder  than  wo£ds^  The 
fruits  of  our  foreign  policy  have  been  the  acquSRpn  of 
more  territory  and  direct  interference  in  the  affairs  of  our 
neighbors. 

One  of  the  questions  for  us  to  decide  is,  whether  it  is 
worth  while  to  pretend  adherence  to  a  shibboleth  which 
has  so  often  spelt  intervention,  and  which  means  to  our 
neighbors  in  the  western  hemisphere  that  we  consider  it 
our  duty  to  intervene  whenever  sufficient  occasion  arises. 
How  much  do  we  believe  in  intervention? 
One  of  our  most  distinguished  diplomats  and  statesmen, 
the  late  E.  J.  Phelps,  delivered  an  address  in  the  city  of 
Brooklyn  on  IMarch  30,  1896,  which  dealt  with  the  ]\Ion- 
roe  Doctrine  at  a  time  when  we  had  been  drawn  danger- 
ously near  to  a  war  with  Great  Britain  over  the  Venezuela 
boundary.  That  distinguished  publicist  treated  our  right 
to  interfere  in  the  affairs  of  other  nations  in  no  uncertain 
terms.  The  fact  that  he  was  selected  by  President  Cleve- 
land as  our  minister  at  the  Court  of  St.  James,  and  that  he 
filled  that  post  with  marked  success,  is  sufficient  excuse  for 
quoting  him  at  the  present  time,  when  once  again  we  have 
a  distinguished  Democrat  at  the  head  of  the  nation.  Said 
Mr.  Phelps: 

International  law  is  international  morality  and  justice,  for- 
mulated by  the  general  consent  of  civilized  men.  That  is  its 
basis  and  its  sanction.     The  claim  that  Americans  are  in  any 


SHOULD  WE  ABANDON  THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  141 

respect  above  or  beyond  this  law  of  the  civilized  world,  or  that  we 
are  invested  witli  authority  to  interfere  in  the  affairs  of  other  na- 
tions in  which  we  are  in  no  way  concerned,  merely  because  the 
location  of  the  dispute  is  in  South  America,  are  propositions  that 
will  hnd  no  favor  lunon^  just  or  thoughtful  men.  We  have  no 
protectorate  over  South  American  nations,  and  do  not  assume  any 
responsibility  in  their  behalf.  Our  own  rights  there,  as  elsewhere, 
it  is  to  be  hoped,  we  shall  never  fail  to  maintain.  But  those 
rights  have  their  foundation  and  their  limit  in  the  settled  law 
to  which  we  are  subject  as  all  other  nations  are,  and  which  is  as 
necessary  to  us  as  to  them. 

And  when  we  undertake  to  assert  that  we  are  not  bound  by  that 
law,  and  care  nothing  for  the  opinion  of  the  world;  that  we  are 
Americans  and  monarchs  all  of  we  survey;  and  that  we  are  going 
to  control  the  part  of  this  hemisphere  that  does  not  belong  to  us, 
regardless  of  the  rights  of  those  to  whom  it  does  belong,  merely 
for  the  sake  of  doing  it,  and  because  we  think  we  are  strong  enough, 
we  adopt  the  language  of  the  bully,  and  shall  certainly  encounter, 
if  that  is  persisted  in,  the  bully's  retribution. 

Surely,  with  these  words  ringing  in  our  ears,  we  do  not 
wish  to  stand  by  a  policy  which  can  be  so  construed  as  to 
spell  interference  and  intervention. 

It  is  difficult  to  exaggerate  the  present  attitude  of  South 
.\merica  towards  the  Monroe  Doctrine.  As  late  as  Sep- 
tember 13,  1913,  La  Prcnsa,  one  of  the  leading  papers  of 
Peru  and  the  principal  supporter  of  the  present  government, 
prints  in  the  most  conspicuous  place  in  the  paper  a  letter 
from  a  Chilean  newspaper  correspondent  in  New  York. 
The  headlines  are  as  follows:  "Studying  the  Situation  in 
Mexico."  The  Chilean  journalist,  Montcalm,  speaks  from 
New  York.  He  calls  on  Latin- .America  to  "unite  itself 
against  Yankee  imperialism."  One  of  the  paragraphs 
reads:  "The  United  States  today  controls  Cuba,  Porto 
Rico,  and  Panama.  Tomorrow  it  is  going  to  control  Cen- 
tral America.  It  has  commenced  to  control  Mexico.  Who 
says  that  it  will  not  continue  still  further?"  The  article 
ends  with  a  spirited  plea  to  the  Latin-American  republics 
to  help  Mexico  out  of  the  hole  into  which  she  has  got  herself 
by  her  revolutionary  civil  war. 

In  its  issue  of  September  15,  1913,  in  the  same  conspicu- 
ous position  under  the  heading,  "The  Voice  of  a  ^lexican," 
La  Pre7isa  reprints  an  article  from  La  Rem^la,  of  Yucatan, 


142  HIRAM    BINGHAM 

signed  by  R.  De  Zayas  Enriques,  in  which  he  criticises  severe- 
ly our  attitude  of  mentor  of  the  Latin-American  republics, 
and  our  pretention  of  being  the  only  arbiter  of  their  fate. 
He  refers  to  the  increasing  application  of  the  Monroe  Doc- 
trine, which,  he  saj's,  is  already  too  ample,  and  refers  to 
the  fact  that  European  powers  have  always  paid  better  re- 
spect to  the  Doctrine  than  the  American  peoples  themselves. 
The  whole  trend  of  this  two-column  article  is  to  arouse 
feeling  against  the  United  States. 

Recent  travelers  in  South  America,  and  several  of  our 
recently  returned  diplomats,  tell  the  same  story.  But  per- 
haps no  one  has  put  the  situation  more  clearly  than  the 
recent  Ambassador  from  England  to  the  United  States.  It 
can  hardly  be  denied  that  the  United  States  has  no  better 
friend  than  Mr.  Bryce.  In  his  American  Commonwealth, 
he  has  shown  a  depth  of  S3Tiipathy  and  a  keenness  of  appre- 
ciation for  our  institutions  which  have  never  been  sur- 
passed. His  residence  in  Washington  as  the  British  Am- 
bassador increased  his  already  great  popularity  in  this 
country.  His  advice  is  worth  heeding,  if  we  heed  the  ad- 
vice of  our  friends  at  all.  In  his  recent  book  on  South 
America,  he  says: 

As  regards  the  United  States  there  is  a  balance  between  at- 
traction and  suspicion.  The  South  Americans  desire  to  be  on 
good  terms  with  her,  and  their  wisest  statesmen  feel  the  value  of 
her  diplomatic  action  in  trjdng  to  preserve  peace  between  those 
of  their  republics  whose  smouldering  enmities  often  threaten 
to  burst  into  flame.  More  than  once  in  recent  years  this  value 
has  been  tested.  On  the  other  hand,  as  has  already  been  observed, 
they  are  jealous  of  their  own  dignity,  not  at  all  disposed  to  be 
patronized,  and  quick  to  resent  anything  bordering  on  a  threat, 
even  when  addressed  not  to  themselves,  but  to  some  other  repub- 
lic. It  is  as  the  disinterested,  the  absolutely  disinterested  and 
unselfish,  advocate  of  peace  and  good- will,  that  the  United  States 
will  have  most  influence  in  the  western  hemisphere,  and  that 
influence,  gently  and  tactfully  used,  may  be  of  incalculable  service 
to  mankind. 

Surely,  this  must  be  our  ultimate  aim.  We  do  desire  to 
influence  for  good  the  western  hemisphere.  We  are  begin- 
ning to  realize  that  there  are  several  states  in  South  Amer- 
ica that  are  no  longer  infant  republics.     They  have  grown 


SHOULD  WE  ABANDON  THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  143 

up.  To  return  to  our  former  metaphor — the  little  swimmers 
have  got  their  heads  well  out  of  water,  and  have  climbed 
out  and  are  safely  standing  on  their  own  legs.  They  nat- 
urally resent  any  implied  assertion  on  our  part  that  we 
will  protect  them  from  Europe. 

If  the  Monroe  Doctrine  implies  this  we-will-protect-you- 
from-Europe  attitude,  if  it  is  disagreeable  and  irritating 
to  those  whose  friendship  is  most  worth  having  in  the 
western  hemisphere,  if,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  we  have  delib- 
erately broken  the  Monroe  Doctrine  whenever  it  suited 
us  to  do  so,  why  should  we  cling  to  it  so  tenderly  and  so  te- 
naciously any  longer?  What  possible  good  can  it  do  us? 
We  apparently  have  a  great  deal  to  lose  by  maintaining  it. 
What  have  we  to  gain  by  pretending  to  stick  to  it? 

The  chief  arguments  in  favor  of  retaining  the  Monroe 
Doctrine  appear  to  be  three: 

The  first  is,  that  the  good  old  Doctrine  is  ninety  years 
of  age;  it  has  survived  and  flourished  nearly  a  century,  and 
there  must  be  something  in  it  to  have  given  it  such  a  long 
life!  To  such  an  argument  as  this,  it  is  only  necessary  to 
reply  that  the  same  notion  was  used  with  even  more  telling 
effect  against  Copernicus,  when  he  declared  that  the  world 
revolved  on  its  axis.  Furthermore,  it  sounds  suspiciously 
like  the  defence  that  we  made  of  slavery  in  the  middle  of 
the  nineteenth  centurj-.  It  is  an  argument  that  need  not 
be  treated  seriously. 

In  the  second  place,  it  is  claimed  that  the  IMonroe  Doc- 
trine should  be  maintained  because  we  have  more  interests 
in  America  than  has  Europe.  "We  are  remote  from  P]u- 
rope;  we  are  close  to  South  America."  Therefore,  it  is 
natural  that  we  should  have  more  interest  than  England 
or  Germany  in  maintaining  a  benevolent  protection  over 
the  fortunes  of  the  Latin-^American  republics.  This  may 
be  true  of  the  countries  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Caribbean 
Sea,  but  it  is  far  from  true  of  the  larger  republics  of  South 
America.  Their  great  cities  are  geographically  nearer 
Europe  than  they  are  to  the  United  States.  Their  popu- 
lation contains  at  least  a  million  Italian  immigrants,  and 
many  hundreds  of  thousands  of  Spanish,  I'ortuguese,  French, 


144  HIRAM    BINGHAM 

Germans,  and  English.  Wliile  there  are  probably  fewer 
French  than  those  of  any  other  nationality,  the  French 
actually  outnumber  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  who 
are  living  in  the  larger  republics.  Consequently,  if  there 
is  any  weight  whatever  in  the  fact  that  a  nation  has  interests 
in  a  country  where  its  citizens  are  emploj'^ed,  our  interests 
are  less  than  those  of  almost  any  one  of  the  larger  European 
countries.  So  far  as  investments  are  concerned,  there  is 
also  no  question  whatever  but  that  Europe  has  far  more 
of  a  claim  to  be  directly  interested  in  the  present  state  and 
future  of  the  South  American  republics  than  has  the  United 
States.  Compared  to  the  hundreds  of  millions  which  Eng- 
land has  invested  in  Argentina  and  Brazil,  for  instance, 
our  own  investments  in  those  countries  are  ridiculously 
small.  Consequently,  this  argument  falls  of  its  own  weight, 
for  to  it  we  can  reply  that  the  larger  and  more  important 
part  of  South  America  is  nearer  in  miles,  nearer  in  days  of 
traveling,  closer  in  ties  of  relationship,  and  more  directly 
interested  in  commercial  intercourse  with  Europe  than  with 
the  United  States. 

The  third  argument  is  that  the  Monroe  Doctrine  has 
done  South  America  a  great  deal  of  good  in  preventing 
her  from  being  partitioned,  as  was  Africa.  Therefore,  let 
us  preserve  it  in  all  its  pristine  strength!  It  is  quite  true 
that  the  Monroe  Doctrine  undoubtedly  protected  South 
America  against  European  aggression  during  a  large  part 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  when  such  aggression  might  have 
been  fatal  to  the  independence  of  several  South  American 
republics.  But  such  a  condition  of  affairs  no  longer  exists, 
and  if  it  should  arise,  that  is  to  say  if  Germany  should  at- 
tempt to  seize  part  of  Brazil,  for  instance,  or  if  Japan  or 
China  should  attempt  to  coerce  Peru  into  receiving  unde- 
sirable immigrants,  the  best  course  for  us  to  pursue  would 
be,  not  to  step  forth  single-handed  as  we  did  in  1823,  but 
to  join  hands  with  the  leading  nations  of  South  America  in 
protecting  the  new  woild  from  the  aggression  of  the  old. 
It  is  replied  by  some  that  this  is  merely  a  modification  of 
the  Monroe  Doctrine.     In  so  far  as  it  aims  to  accomplish 


SHOULD  WE  ABANDON  THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  146 

certain  results,  that  is  true;  in  so  far  as  it  is  proimilgated  in 
a  different  spirit  and  with  a  direct  recognition  of  the  actual 
state  of  our  southern  neighbors,  it  is  different.  Taking 
into  account  the  extremely  unpleasant  connotation,  in  the 
ears  of  our  southern  neighbors,  of  the  word  Monroeism, 
we  should  be  in  a  much  stronger  position  if  we  would  put 
that  word  aside,  and  adopt  a  new  one,  such  as  Pan-American 
Defense,  which  shall  have  for  its  connotation  America  for 
Humanity,  and  not  America  f(jr  the  North  Americans. 

Having  considered  the  chief  arguments  for  retaining  the 
Monroe  Doctrine,  let  us  now  briefly  sum  up  the  reasons 
why  we  should  abandon  it.  First,  the  original  Monroe 
Doctrine  has  been  disregiirded  in  several  historical  instances, 
notably  after  our  war  with  Mexico  in  1847,  after  our  wai- 
with  Spain  in  1898,  and  in  our  dealings  with  Colombia, 
Santo  Domingo,  and  Nicaragua.  Second,  owing  to  the 
constitutional  changes  that  have  taken  place  in  the  leading 
European  nations  since  1823,  there  is  no  danger  that,  in 
the  words  of  President  Monroe,  the  allied  powers  will  "ex- 
tend their  political  system  to  any  portion  of  eitlier  conti- 
nent." The  world  has  advanced  since  then  and  the  Eu- 
ropean nations  themselves  would  be  the  first  to  object  to 
any  one  of  their  number  seizing  a  Latin-.\merican  republic, 
or  setting  up  a  monarchy  there.  Third,  several  of  the  South 
American  states,  notably  Argentina,  Brazil,  and  Chile, 
having  attained  their  majority  are  no  longer  infants,  do  not 
need  our  protection  and  will  make  better  friends  and  strong- 
er allies  if  we  cease  to  hold  the  Monroe  Doctrine  as  one  of 
the  tenets  of  our  political  faith.  Fourth,  their  friendship 
is  worth  having.  They  are  already  building  super-dread- 
noughts, and,  with  our  more  extended  frontier,  and  our  out- 
lying ports,  such  as  Panama  and  Honolulu,  we  need  cordial 
friends  in  the  western  hemisphere,  and  cannot  afford  to 
treat  them  in  such  a  way  as  to  estrange  their  sentiments. 
Fifth,  the  later  form  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  sometimes 
known  as  the  "Big  stick  policy,"  or  the  "American  police- 
man idea,"  by  which  we  say  to  Europe  tliat  we  cannot  allow 
her  to  take  any  active  interest  in  the  political  affairs  of  the 


146  HIRAM    BINGHAM 

western  hemisphere,  and  accept  the  corresponding  responsi- 
bility to  look  after  her  people  and  her  property  in  the  less 
well  estabhshed  republics,  is  a  policy  likely  to  involve  us 
in  tremendous  difficulties  and  possibly  in  costly  wars.  It 
is  a  polic}'-  from  which  we  have  nothing  to  gain,  and  in 
which  we  have  everything  to  lose.  It  is  a  policy  which  is 
likely  to  cost  us  the  friendship  not  only  of  our  American 
neighbors  but,  what  is  really  of  more  importance  to  us,  our 
European  neighbors.  Sixth,  we  should  give  up  the  IMonroe 
Doctrine  because  the  premises  on  which  it  was  founded,  and 
on  which  it  was  justified,  no  longer  exist. 

Today  Europe  has  more  citizens  in  South  America  than 
we  have.  She  has  invested  a  far  larger  share  of  her  capital 
in  South  America  than  we  have.  She  is  bound  to  South 
America,  not  only  by  these  ties  of  brotherhood  and  of  prop- 
erty, but  also  by  the  racial  ties  which  bind  together  the 
Latin  race. 

Geographically,  Europe  is  nearer  the  chief  cities  of  South 
America  than  is  the  United  States;  racially,  she  is  closer; 
practically,  she  has  more  business  interests  there,  and  more 
of  her  sons  are  living  there;  and,  finally,  Europe  has  no  in- 
tention to  enforcing  arbitrary  monarchy  and  despotism  on  • 
American  states  any  more  than  we  have.  7  "^  .  [  y  ^  -4  /-^  7  ' 

As  the  premises  on  which  the  Monroe 'Doctrine  was  based  ' 
no  longer  exist,  and  as  the  maintenance  of  our  adherence  - 
to  those  words  is  of  harm  rather  than  good  to  us,  it  must  be  - 
evident  that  the  time  has  arrived  for  us  to  abandon  this  • 
national  shibboleth,  and  to  clear  the  way  for  a  new  and  logi-  - 
cal  foreign  policy.  , 

If  we  abandon  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  what  shall  we  adopt  " 
to  take  its  place?    The  answer  to  this  question  is  fairly    ' 
simple  if  one  is  willing  to  admit  that  the  words  "Monroe   ^ 
Doctrine"   simply   stand   for   our   foreign   policy.     Under    ' 
President  Monroe,  we  announced  it  as  our  foreign  policy    • 
to  have  nothing  to  do  with  Europe,  and  to  see  to  it  that  - 
Europe  had  nothing  to  do  with  America.     We  had  a  kind 
of  splendid  isolation.      We  were  separated  from  Europe   • 
by  a  stormy  ocean,  which  could  be  crossed  only  by  a  painful 


SHOULD  WE  ABANDON  THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  147 

journey  on  board  small  sailing  vessels.  We  promulgated  a 
doctrine  intended  to  keep  foreign  complications  out  of  our 
national  life,  and  to  enable*  us  to  avoid  entangling  alliances. 
Today,  as  was  recently  said  in  an  editorial  in  the  World's 
Work,  this  very  Monroe  Doctrine  is  the  chief  breeder  of 
diplomatic  negotiations.  In  other  words,  it  is  a  trouble- 
maker. To  take  its  place,  let  us  adopt  a  more  rational 
foreign  policy.  We  have  already  begun  to  do  so.  Presi- 
dent Wilson,  in  his  Mobile  declaration,  stated  clearly  that 
the  United  States  did  not  intend  to  take  another  foot  of 
territory  by  conquest.  He  has  declined  to  send  an  army 
into  Mexico,  although  there  have  been  loud  clamors  for 
intervention,  and  many  of  these  clamors,  particularly  in 
the  yellow  journals,  have  been  based  upon  the  so-called 

logic  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine."  But  we  must  go  a  few 
steps  further  if  we  would  make  our  friends  in  South  America 
believe  that  we  have  really  adopted  a  new  foreign  policy, 
and  that  we  have  outgrown  ^lonroeism. 

One  of  these  steps  was  recommended  by  Prof.  Theodore 
Woolsey  in  an  able  article  in  Scribner's  Magazine  in  1909, 
in  which  it  was  proposed  that  we  invite  the  leading  powers 
of  Latin-America  to  unite  with  us  whenever  intervention 
became  necessary.  This  principle  of  joint  intervention  at- 
tracted little  attention  at  that  time,  but  its  practicability 
has  been  rapidly  gaining  force  recently.  In  1911,  the  pres- 
ent writer,  in  a  book  entitled  Across  South  America,  sugges- 
ted that  the  time  had  come  to  -'amend  our  outgrown  Mon- 
roe Doctrine,  as  has  alreadj^  been  suggested  by  one  of  our 
writers  on  international  law,  so  as  to  include  in  the  police 
force  of  the  western  hemisphere,  those  who  have  shown 
themselves  able  to  practice  self-control."  This  suggestion 
was  given  favorable  notice  by  Mr.  Bryce  in  his  book  on  South 
.America  just  referred  to.  It  was  again  called  to  public 
attention  by  the  Hon.  Charles  Shorrill,  recently  our  Minis- 
ter to  Argentina,  and  has  since  been  referred  to  many 
times  both  in  print  and  on  the  platform. 

Some  of  those  who  have  sanctioned  it,  feeling  that  it  was 
necessarj-  to  stick  to  the  words  of  our  ancient  shibboleth, 


148  HIRAM    BINGHAM 

have  felt  that  the  invitation  to  Argentina  or  Brazil  to  inter- 
vene with  us  in  Mexico,  should  come  under  the  cloak  of  the 
Monroe  Doctrine;  but  it  seems  to  me  that  this  is  a  most 
unfortunate  suggestion.  It  is  to  our  interests, — it  is  in  the 
interests  of  the  peace  and  happiness  of  the  western  hemi- 
sphere, that  we  get  as  far  away  from  these  words  "Monroe 
Doctrine"  as  possible,  and  that  we  build  up  a  new  foreign 
policy  that  is  abreast  of  the  times,  that  recognizes  the  great- 
ness of  several  of  the  Latin- American  states,  that  recognizes 
that  some  of  them  are  weak,  and  need  the  protection  of  an 
international  police,  and  that  gives  evidence  to  the  world 
that  our  foreign  policy  is  really  unselfish  and  is  based  on 
high  ideals.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  we  are  a  peaceful  na- 
tion. Our  desire  to  be  helpful  to  our  neighbors  is  sincere. 
The  present  administration  has  given  evidence  of  its  inten- 
tion to  discount  revolution  and  to  give  the  aid  of  its  formal 
recognition  only  to  such  governments  as  are  constitutionally 
elected.  We  are  not  going  to  put  a  premium  on  revolution 
by  promptly  recognizing  any  government  that  comes  to  the 
top  in  the  seething  cauldron  of  unstable  conditions  in  any 
Latin-American  country.  This  is  a  doctrine  of  high  ideals. 
It  has  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the  Monroe  Doctrine. 

Furthermore,  there  are  several  minor  things  of  practical 
importance  which  we  can  do  to  show  not  only  that  we  have 
abandoned  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  but  that  we  have  adopted 
a  legitimate  new  foreign  policy.  In  the  first  place,  by  of- 
fering to  exchange  ambassadors  with  Argentina  and  Chile, 
we  can  give  them  evidence  that  we  realize  their  present  posi- 
tion in  the  world  today.  There  is  no  reason  why  we  should 
have  ambassadors  in  Brazil,  Mexico,  and  Turkey,  and  none 
in  Argentina  and  Chile. 

In  the  second  place,  we  can  make  a  generous  appropria- 
tion for  the  second  Pan-American  Scientific  Congress. 
We  can  at  least  offer  to  treat  our  international  guests  as 
hospitably  as  Chile  did.  In  fact,  in  order  to  make  up  for 
lost  time  and  for  the  seeming  insolence  due  to  our  negli- 
gence, we  can  afford  to  do  better  than  they  did.  And  we 
ought  to  do  it  promptly. 

In  the  third  place,  we  can  show  our  personal  interest  in 


SHOULD  WE  ABANDON  THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  149 

our  neighbors  by  visiting  them  more  frequently.  There 
are  no  longer  any  serious  handicaps  in  the  way  of  v^isiting  a 
number  of  the  states  of  South  America.  By  becoming  in- 
timately acquainted  with  the  problems  of  Peru,  Chile, 
Argentina,  and  Brazil,  we  can  do  more  toward  aiding  in  the 
formation  of  an  intelligent  foreign  policy  than  might  appear 
at  first  sight.     It  is  ignorance  that  breeds  insults. 

Finally,  let  us  stop  using  the  words  "Monroe  Doctrine." 
It  would  be  well  if  a  formal  resolution  of  Congress  could  be 
passed,  but  since  Congress  has  never  formally  approved 
of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  in  so  many  words,  it  is  probable 
that  it  would  be  sufficient  if  our  great  parties  in  their  next 
platforms  should  avoid  the  repetition  of  those  phrases  sup>- 
porting  the  doctrine  which  have  been  customary  for  so 
many  years. 

For  the  immediate  future,  let  us  adopt  a  policy  of  Pan- 
American  Defense.  Let  us  invite  to  the  round  table  of 
discussion  all  the  American  republics  who  can  show  clean 
records  and  economic  stability.  If  we  beheve  that  any 
/Vmerican  republic,  by  reason  of  civil  war  or  internal  dis- 
cord, is  endangering  the  peace  of  its  neighbors,  if  we  believe 
that  cause  for  interference  in  its  affairs  is  arising,  let  the 
matter  be  considered  at  the  round  table.  Let  it  meet  in 
some  one  of  the  American  capitals,  not  merely  to  discuss, 
as  Pan-American  conferences  have  done,  innocuous  poli- 
cies regarding  Pan-American  railway  projects  and  inter- 
national postal  regulations,  but  the  actual  business  in  hand. 
In  other  words,  let  these  Pan-American  conferences  not  rep- 
resent a  ff)rmal  e.xchange  of  pleasantry'  every  so  often,  but  let 
them  be  called  for  the  definite  object  of  settling  definite  and 
difficult  problems.  If  there  is  to  be  any  intervention,  let  it 
come  as  the  result  of  a  family  gathering,  and  not  as  the  de- 
cision of  the  American  Department  of  State.  Let  us  re- 
member that  it  is  "as  the  disinterested  advocate  of  peace 
and  good-will  that  we  shall  have  most  influence  in  the 
Western  Hemisphere." 

If  Argentina,  Brazil  and  Cliile  decline  to  meet  us  on  these 
terms,  then  let  us  go  to  The  Hague  and  call  a  council  of 
all  civilized  nations,  and  ask  for  an  expression  of  interna- 


150  HIRAAI    BINGHAM 

tional  opinion,  and  the  appointment  of  international  police. 
Here  is  an  opportunity  for  a  truly  enlightened  international 
policy. 

Meanwhile  let  us  not  forget  that  the  maintenance  of  the 
Monroe  Doctrine  involves  an  attitude  of  constant  suspicion 
both  at  home  and  abroad,  which  raises  barriers  against  the 
progress  of  international  good-will  and  diminishes  our  influ- 
ence both  in  Europe  and  America. 


THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE 
By  Honorable  George  F.  Tucker 

Many  views  have  been  entertained  as  to  the  meaning  of 
the  Monroe  doctrine,  and  as  to  its  claim  to  a  place  in  the 
code  of  international  law.  The  conservatives  regard  it  as  a 
declaration  of  little  value  and  eflScacy ;  to  the  devotees  of  bold 
and  forceful  politics  it  has  become  a  kind  of  fetish;  even  a 
President  of  the  United  States  asserted  nearly  twenty  years 
ago  that  it  "has  its  place  in  the  code  of  international  law 
as  certainly  and  as  securely  as  if  it  were  specifically  men- 
tioned;" and  yet,  as  to  its  genesis,  aim,  and  validity  there 
can  be  no  room  for  cavil  or  controversy.  Enunciated  over 
ninety  years  ago,  when  Spain  was  bent  on  resubjugating 
her  Spanish-American  dependencies,  which  had  long  before 
asserted  their  independence,  and  when  it  was  apprehended 
that  she  was  assured  of  the  support  of  other  European  pow- 
ers, the  Doctrine  has  never  been  sanctioned  or  adopted  by 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  and  its  place  in  the  code 
of  international  law  has  been  strenuously  and  even  bitterly 
questioned  by  most  of  the  leading  nations  of  Europe. 

And  what  is  this  Doctrine?  It  may  briefly  be  defined  as 
a  warning  to  the  governments  of  the  Old  World  not  to  estab- 
lish colonies  on,  or  to  extend  their  political  systems  to  these 
continents,  and  to  refrain  from  interference  in  the  affairs  of 
the  Spanish-American  republics.  Conceding  that  the  Doc- 
trine has  no  place  in  the  realm  of  international  jurisprudence 
and  that  it  is  hardly  more  than  a  fiat,  we  are  confronted  by 
the  fact  that  its  assertion  by  this  government  has  more  than 
once  received  the  attention  of  European  powers,  and  it  has 
been,  in  a  certain  sense,  recognized  by  them  in  the  happy  ad- 
justment of  the  contentions  which  have  occasioned  its  avowal. 
There  are  four  conspicuous  illustrations. 

International  misunderstandings  over  a  projected  water- 
way at  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  long  preceded  the  ratification 

151 


152  GEORGE   F.    TUCKER 

of  the  Clayton-Bulwer  treaty  in  1850.  Tliis  compact, 
which  was  intended  to  settle  a  perplexing  question  only 
augmented  the  difficulty,  and  the  discussions  and  writings 
to  which  it  gave  rise  would  fill  volumes.  In  the  course  of 
time  differences  were  harmonized  or  contentions  withdrawn, 
and  the  Hay-Pauncefote  treaty  has  lodged  ample  power  in 
the  American  government  to  construct  the  Canal;  and  the 
bickerings  and  quarrels  of  many  years  are  forgotten.  During 
the  long  period  of  unrest  and  disturbance  in  Cuba,  Ameri- 
cans apprehended  that  Great  Britain  or  some  other  European 
power  contemplated  the  acquisition  of  that  island,  and  Great 
Britain  and  France  entertained  a  somewhat  similar  view  as 
to  the  intentions  of  the  United  States.  The  two  nations 
urged  this  country  to  enter  into  a  tripartite  stipulation  to 
the  effect  that  no  one  of  them  should  obtain  possession  of 
the  island  or  exercise  any  dominion  over  it.  After  the  rejec- 
tion of  the  proposal  by  this  country  in  1852,  there  seemed  to 
be  little  hope  of  a  settlement  of  the  question,  yet  now  we  find 
Cuba  enjoying  independence  under  our  own  guardianship, 
and  her  present  condition  and  her  future  welfare  are  matters 
of  indifference  to  the  powers  of  Europe.  On  the  interven- 
tion of  the  French  in  Mexico  about  fifty  years  ago,  the  Mon- 
roe Doctrine  w^as  again  invoked.  The  situation  was  for  a 
time  serious,  but  at  last  the  invaders  withdrew;  and  ever  since 
no  power  has  assumed  to  interfere  in  the  affairs  of  this  so- 
called  republic,  except  the  United  States  itself,  now  endeav- 
oring through  an  able,  upright  and  conscientious  President 
to  aid  the  Mexicans  in  the  establishment  of  a  stable  govern- 
ment. And,  lastly,  there  is  the  case  of  Venezuela,  in  1895. 
The  question  related  to  the  determination  of  a  boundary  line 
between  that  country  and  British  Guiana.  The  feeling 
engendered  between  the  two  nations,  parties  to  the  contro- 
versy, was  intense,  if  not  bitter.  However,  the  question  at 
last  reached  a  definite  adjustment,  and  the  incident  is  now 
liistory.  These  occasions  of  the  so-called  application  or 
assertion  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  are  cited  to  show  that  in 
every  instance  reason  and  sense  have  triumphed,  and  war 
lias  been  happily  averted. 

We  are  now  at  the  threshold  of  the  future  and  are  asked  to 


THE    MONROE   DOCTRINE  153 

exercise  prevision — to  suggest  how  far  the  Monroe  Doctrine 
ought  to  apply  to  prospective  incursions  of  European  nations 
into  the  territory  of  Central  and  South  American  republics, 
or  to  possible  interference  in  their  affairs.  These  questions 
are  difficult  to  answer,  and  every  case  must  be  treated  and 
settled  according  to  the  circumstances  creating  it,  and  the 
disposition  and  temper  of  the  disputants.  It  is  believed  by 
many  that  there  is  little  ground  for  apprehension  that  for- 
eign powers  will  endeavor  to  establish  on  these  shores  settle- 
ments hostile  to  democratic  institutions  or  disturb  the  auton- 
omy of  the  Spanish-American  republics,  but  if  problems 
relating  to  land  or  government  or  even  trade,  or  the  enforce- 
ment of  pecuniar}'-  obligations  do  come  up  for  solution,  there 
are  the  most  cogent  reasons  for  the  exercise  of  the  spirit  of 
accomodation,  for  the  application  of  liberal  construction  and 
interpretation,  and  for  the  abnegation  not  only  of  the  appre- 
hensions similar  to  those  so  prevalent  at  the  time  of  the  in- 
ception of  the  Doctrine,  but  also  of  jingo  sentiments  and 
policies. 

The  speaker  is  not  inclined  to  present  ideas  and  formulate 
rules  of  his  own.  It  is  his  purpose  rather  to  ask  questions 
based  on  governmental  conditions,  international  relations, 
commercial  methods  and  practices,  and  the  utilization  of 
physical  forces  for  the  carriage  of  merchandise,  so  radically 
different  from  those  which  obtained  or  were  employed 
ninety,  seventy,  or  even  fifty  years  ago.  We  should  not 
forget  that  at  the  time  of  President  Monroe's  declaration 
this  country'  had  a  population  of  only  a  few  millions,  and 
that  her  interests  were  inconsiderable  in  comparison  with 
those  of  today,  that  the  Spanish-American  countries  were 
emerging  from  colonial  conditions  that  made  the  transition 
to  independence  and  democracy  difficult  and  problematical ; 
that  trade  between  civilized  countries  was  not  extensive  and 
was  largely  limited  to  merchandise  peculiar  to  an  age  when 
wants  were  few  and  luxuries  little  known;  that  transporta- 
tion was  not  yet  effected  by  the  agencies  which  man  has  since 
called  from  latency;  that  knowledge  the  world  over  was  the 
possession  of  the  few,  and  that  such  a  thing  as  the  education 
of  the  masses  was  hardly  contemplated;  that  racial  affinities 


154  GEORGE    F.    TUCKER 

and  prejudices  were  marked  aiid  prevalent — a  fact  due  to 
the  aloofness  of  nations,  caused  in  a  large  measure  by  slow 
and  imperfect  means  of  communication;  that  there  were  few, 
perhaps  no,  societies  and  associations  organized  to  promote 
the  cause  of  peace  and  to  agitate  for  settlement  of  wars  and 
disputes  by  compromise  or  arbitration,  and  that  no  one 
dreamed — not  even  the  visionary  and  enthusiast — of  the 
discoveries  and  inventions  that  were  to  modify  the  methods 
of  trade  and  business,  augment  the  wealth  of  the  world, 
raise  the  standards  of  hving,  bring  long  separated  peoples 
into  closer  relations  and  make  possible  cooperative  efforts 
to  promote  amity  and  good-will  among  nations. 

Is  it  not  a  fact  that  the  Monroe  Doctrine  might  possiblj' 
be  applied  today  to  the  detriment  of  the  southern  republics 
in  whose  interest  it  may  be  invoked,  and  possibly  to  the  dis- 
credit of  the  United  States?  It  is  fair  to  assume  that  there 
are  only  two  nations  that  are  likely  in  any  event  to  oppose  or 
violate  this  Doctrine  or  inhibition — Great  Britain  and  Ger- 
many. In  the  past  ninty*  years  Great  Britain  has  advanced 
from  the  rule  of  the  few  to  that  of  the  many,  so  that  the  sub- 
jects of  the  king  enjoy  about  all  the  privileges  of  citizens  of 
our  country;  she  has  covered  the  seas  with  her  shipping,  and 
has  developed  a  colonial  system  the  most  remarkable  and 
ejQScient  in  the  history  of  the  world;  she  has  guarded  and 
guards  her  subjects  in  every  corner  of  the  globe,  and,  wher- 
ever her  flag  flies,  the  lives  and  property  of  aliens  are  accorded 
the  same  protection  as  those  of  her  own.  Now  is  it  not  prob- 
able that,  if  Great  Britain  should  interfere  in  the  affairs  of  a 
Latin-American  countr\%  she  would  establish  a  system  calcu- 
lated to  promote  the  interests  of  that  country,  and  not  at  all 
inimical  to  those  of  the  United  States?  And  what  system? 
Not  that  of  the  old  Great  Britain  governed  by  gentlemen, 
but  that  of  the  Great  Britain  of  today  governed  by  the  people. 

Ninety  years  ago  Germany  was  a  collection  of  states  with- 
out cohesion  and  with  a  not  redundant  population.  Now 
regard  the  aspect  of  governmental  unification,  and  consider 
her  great  advance  not  only  in  education  and  all  the  activities 
that  go  with  learning,  but  in  manufacturing  and  trade  and 
commerce.     The  growth  in  population  has  been  marv^elous, 


THE   MONROE   DOCTRINE  155 

and  the  label  "Made  in  Germany,"  testifies  everywhere  to 
commercial  expansion  and  prosperity,  but  her  territory  is 
hardly  sufficient  to  maintain  her  constantly  increasing 
numbers,  and  she  naturally  seeks  other  localities  for  those 
who  are  handicapped  at  home  by  the  struggle  for  existence. 
Now  if  Germany  should  take  over  a  Latin-American  coun- 
try, would  its  people  be  subjugated  and  deprived  of  their 
liberties,  or  would  they  affiliate  with  the  conquerors  and 
profit  by  the  appropriation?  And  how  would  our  own  insti- 
tutions be  affected?  Would  there  be  ground  for  apprehen- 
sion that  such  an  appropriation  would  be  a  menace  to  our 
democratic  government?  The  speaker  does  not  answer  these 
questions,  but  he  adverts  to  the  fact  that  there  are  several 
million  German-Americans;  that  they  have  been  famed  for 
their  indifference  to  political  intrigue,  and  have  been  and  are 
equally  famed  for  their  diligence,  their  frugality,  their  thrift, 
and  their  loyalty  to  their  adopted  land.  So  far  as  is  known, 
they  have  never  attempted  to  destroy  the  American  republic, 
but  on  the  other  hand  have  been  among  the  foremost  to  con- 
tribute to  its  prosperity. 

But  how  about  coaling  stations  and  the  transference  to 
American  shores  of  the  European  military  system?  This 
suggests  other  questions.  Have  not  the  great  powers  of 
Europe  all  they  can  attend  to  in  colonial  enterprise  and  ex- 
pansion, especially  since  their  taking  over  of  the  available 
portions  of  Africa,  under  spheres  of  influence?  Would  not 
the  maintenance  of  military  strong-holds  and  coaling  stations 
in  Central  and  South  America  be  an  element  of  weakness 
rather  than  of  strength?  Commanding  a  large  portion  of 
the  trade  of  these  southern  republics  are  not  Great  Britain 
and  Germany,  for  example,  better  off  than  they  would  be  if 
they  were  compelled  by  expensive  military  and  naval  meas- 
ures to  guard  a  commerce  which  prospers  and  increases  under 
the  protection  of  the  countries  with  whom  it  is  carried  on? 

The  chief  solicitude,  perhaps,  of  the  alarmists  relates  to 
the  Panama  Canal.  The  Clayton-Buhver  treaty  has  been 
supplanted  by  the  Hay-Pauncefote  convention.  Under  the 
direction,  and  at  the  expense  of  this  country,  the  Canal  is 
nearly  completed.     It  is  to  be  neutralized.     The  United 


156  GEORGE   F.    TUCKER 

States  may  maintain  such  military  police  as  may  be  necessary 
to  protect  it  against  lawlessness  and  disorder;  belligerent 
vessels  are  restricted  in  method  and  activity,  and  the  provi- 
sions of  the  treaty  are  to  apply  to  waters  adjacent  to  the 
Canal,  within  three  marine  miles  of  either  end.  And  what 
is  this  solicitude?  Is  it  not  that  the  littoral  is  in  peril,  that 
is  the  shores  adjacent  to  the  Canal,  particularly  on  the  Atlan- 
tic side;  that  some  strong  European  power  may  appropriate 
a  part  of  this  littoral,  and  that  the  position  of  the  United 
States  may  be  thus  rendered  insecure  and  the  Monroe  Doc- 
trine made  ineffective?  Great  Britain  may  be  ehminated 
from  consideration,  for  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that, 
after  settling  the  protracted  controversy  over  Isthmian 
transit,  she  is  going  to  pursue  a  course  which  may  weaken 
the  alliance  she  has  entered  into  to  further  her  own  trade. 
With  the  English  speaking  peoples  in  accord,  is  there  ground 
for  apprehending  interference  with  the  littoral,  or  the  es- 
tablishment of  coaling-stations  in  any  parts  thereof,  or  in 
any  of  the  islands  of  the  Carribean  Sea?  Is  not  the  logical 
conclusion  that  the  successful  operation  of  this  great  water- 
way will  prove  such  a  benefit  to  the  commercial  nations  of 
the  globe,  that  no  one  of  them  will  be  disposed  to  pursue  a 
policy  calculated  to  give  umbrage  to  the  others? 

A  matter  which  merits  attention  is  the  enforcement  of 
money  claims.  The  Latin-American  republics  have  been 
frequent  borrowers  of  European  money-changers,  and  fre- 
quently also  the  disinclination  or  refusal  to  settle  has  led 
to  threats  of  coercion.  In  one  notable  instance — a  little 
over  a  decade  ago — war  was  actually  resorted  to  and  the 
American  people,  misled  by  the  yellow  newspapers,  were- 
distracted  by  the  bugaboo  of  an  invaded  Monroe  Doctrine. 
The  case  was  that  of  Venezuela.  It  is  not  contended  that  the 
government  of  Venezula  repudiated  its  obligations;  in  fact, 
that  government  only  objected  to  the  amount  of  the  claims, 
and  proposed  that  they  be  passed  upon  by  a  board  of  Vene- 
zuelans, while  the  creditor  nations  urged  their  reference  to  a 
mixed  commission.  The  method  adopted — the  sinking  of 
Venezuelan  war  vessels  and  the  bombardment  of  Venezuelan 
ports — is  believed  to  be  one  of  the  first  attempts  in  history  to 


THE   MONROE    DOCTRINE  157 

enforce  commercial  demands  by  virtual  acts  of  war.  It  is 
to  be  noted,  however,  that  both  Great  Britain  and  Germany 
disavowed  to  the  American  government  in  advance  any  in- 
tention to  acquire  territory,  tlie  German  ambassador  assuring 
the  State  Department,  "We  declare  especially  that  under  no 
circumstances  do  we  consider  in  our  proceedings  the  acquisi- 
tion or  the  permanent  occupation  of  Venezuelan  territory." 
The  intention  to  acquire  territory'  was  disavowed,  but  were  not 
the  attitude  and  measures  of  Great  Britain  and  Germany  in 
a  sense  an  interference  in  the  affairs  of  Venezuela,  and  were 
the  interests  of  South  and  Central  America,  and  those  of  the 
United  States  in  any  way  jeopardized? 

Before  dismissing  the  subject,  we  feel  that  the  attitude,  the 
views,  the  preferences  and  purposes  of  the  Latin-American 
governments  deserve  attention,  for  it  may  be  that  today  they 
regard  the  assumed  protectorate  of  the  United  States  as 
different  from  the  very  acceptable  service  rendered  ninety 
years  ago.  Suppose  that  one  of  the  Latin-American  repub- 
lics desires  to  hand  over  its  autonomy  to  a  European  power 
or  for  a  consideration  to  cede  to  that  power  a  bit  of  territory' 
for  the  location  of  a  coaling-station,  has  the  United  States  a 
right  to  set  up  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  and,  if  set  up,  would  it 
prove  a  deterrent?  Without  answering  this  question  can  we 
not  say  that  the  United  States  has  shown  too  little  general 
interest  in  the  affairs  of  her  Spanish-American  neighbors? 
The  matter  of  interrelation  is  one  which  this  country  should 
not  ignore,  and  which  means  far  more  to  the  Latin-Americans 
than  the  North  American  people  at  present  comprehend. 
During  the  last  twenty  years  several  of  our  southern  neigh- 
bors have  made  such  progress,  and  have  so  increased  their 
resources,  that  they  are  amply  able  to  look  out  for  their  own 
affairs  in  the  event  of  threatened  aggresion  of  European  na- 
tions. A  brief  consideration  of  the  respective  attitudes  of 
the  government  of  the  United  States  on  the  one  hand  and  of 
the  Latin-American  countries  on  the  other  may  be  profitable. 
Let  us  fancy  that  the  United  States  government  opens  the 
colloquy  as  follows: 

"Greetings  to  our  sister  republics  in  Central  and  South 
America:  We  trust  that  you  are  well.     We  are  well  and  are 


158  GEORGE    F.    TUCKER 

hopeful  of  the  future.  We  are  at  present  enjoying  great 
liappiness  in  our  remembrances.  We  recall  that  ninety  years 
liave  elapsed  since  we  espoused  your  cause  at  a  time  when  you 
were  weak  and  your  European  enemies  were  powerful,  as 
well  as  hostile  to  the  rights  of  the  people.  Your  threatened 
resubjugation  to  Spain  was  thwarted  by  our  endeavors,  and 
in  a  brief  period  your  independence  was  recognized  the 
world  over.  For  nearly  a  century  we  have  maintained  our 
tutelage,  on  four  different  occasions  at  least  successfully 
averting  the  machinations  and  encroachments  of  monar- 
chical Europe.  We  shall  continue  to  regard  you  as  our  wards 
and  whenever  your  liberties  are  endangered  by  the  threat,  or 
your  territory  is  liable  to  seizure  by  the  act,  of  any  European 
government,  we  shall  champion  your  cause  and  accord  you 
our  support.  May  peace  and  prosperity  be  within  your 
borders,  and  happiness  in  your  homes.     Adieu!" 

We  will  assume  that  the  republics  addressed  respond  in  the 
following  phrases: 

"Thanks,  oh,  great  and  generous  nation  for  the  enumera- 
tion of  your  kindly  oJSices,  and  for  the  offices  themselves. 
Do  not  reproach  us  with  discourtesy,  if  we  observe  that 
guardians  are  supposed  to  take  a  continuous  interest  in  their 
wards.  Hence  we  wonder  why  your  people  have  not  come 
down  to  see  us  during  the  period  of  your  friendly  protector- 
ate. We  should  qualify  the  statement,  however,  for  we  have 
been  favored  with  the  society  of  occasional  Americans,  who 
masquerade  under  the  cognomen  of  contractors,  and  who 
exact  from  our  governments  concessions,  which  often  prove 
more  remunerative  to  the  visitors  than  to  us.  Our  children 
wonder  why  it  is  that  they  only  see  the  flag  of  your  country 
on  an  occasional  embassy  or  consulate,  and  why  it  is  almost 
ne\^er  seen  on  vessels  in  our  harbors  or  at  moorings.  If  the 
Americans  whose  preference  is  for  Europe  will  only  honor  us 
with  their  presence,  we  will  demonstrate  the  assertion  that 
we  can  show  them  the  evidences  of  advanced  civilization. 
We  have  cities  like  Valparaiso,  Buenos  Ayres  and  Rio  de 
Janeiro,  that  compare  favorably  with  those  of  the  United 
States.  We  have  educational  institutions  of  the  highest 
order;  we  have  produced  men  of  great  learning  and  of  no 


THE   MONROE    DOCTRINE  159 

mean  repute;  we  enjoy  the  advantages,  conveniences,  and 
comforts  that  contribute  to  the  happiness  of  Europeans  and 
North  Americans.  We  welcome  to  companionship  those  of 
exery  clime  and,  with  the  exception  of  your  own  people, 
they  come  in  generous  numbers,  and  in  our  cities  and  settle- 
ments are  a  necessary  and  component  element  of  our  popula- 
tion. For  example,  Buenos  Ayres  has  over  1,300,000  in- 
habitants, half  of  whom  are  of  European  birth  or  descent. 
Our  trade  is  largely  with  European  countries — particularly 
with  Great  Britain  and  Germany.  The  foreign  merchant 
does  not  tell  us  what  to  buy,  but  he  studies  our  wants,  and 
makes  his  goods  and  products  in  the  shapes  and  forms  that 
suit  us.  and  he  favors  us  in  matters  of  payments — not  in- 
frequently with  long  credits.  Is  it  not  a  fact  that  you  your- 
selves have  been  so  intent  on  your  home  market  that  you 
have  neglected  Latin-American  fields,  that  might  have 
afforded  opportunities  for  profitable  enterprise,  and  that  by 
cultivating  these  fields  you  might  have  brought  all  the 
American  republics  into  a  union  of  interest  and  sympathy 
and  effort?  Pardon  us,  if  we  remind  you  that  the  United 
States  took  no  part  in  any  Congress  w^ith  the  Latin-American 
States  until  nearly  two-thirds  of  a  century  had  elapsed  since 
the  declaration  of  President  Monroe.  The  recent  efforts 
of  some  of  your  Chambers  of  Commerce,  and  of  your  ad- 
vanced men  of  affairs,  to  work  up  markets  with  us,  is  highly 
gratifying.  Not  the  least  beneficient  result,  if  their  efforts 
are  successful,  will  be  the  coming  to  our  shores  of  many  of 
your  people,  who,  we  are  sure,  will  deal  with  us  as  fairly  as  the 
Europeans  have  done  and  are  donig.  We  thank  you  for 
expressions  of  friendship  and  esteem,  and  await  the  approach- 
ing day,  we  trust,  when  \<rQ  may  extend  to  your  own  citizens 
the  felicitations,  which  we  are  now  endeavoring  to  pour  into 
your  national  ear. " 

It  is  not  easy  to  advance  definite  views  on  an  indefinite 
subject,  but  it  is  natural  to  foresee  possible  contingencies 
and  occurrences,  and  to  suggest  dispassionate  treatment  of 
them.  Nearly  thirty  years  ago  the  speaker  published  a 
monograph  on  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  which  was  intended  to 
be  an  impartial  and  colorless  presentation  of  the  sul)ject,  and 


160  GEORGE    F.    TUCKER 

his  reason  therefor  was  that  the  declaration  of  President 
Monroe — a  proper  promulgation  for  a  time  when  apprehen- 
sion of  interference  of  European  powers  in  the  affairs  of  the 
Spanish-American  countries  was  justified — had  never  been 
indorsed  by  congressional  action,  and  had  never  been  accor- 
ded a  place  in  the  code  of  international  law  by  the  nations  on 
the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic.  The  questions  asked  to-day 
by  the  speaker  are  prompted  by  the  fact  that  circumstances 
in  the  last  ninety  years  have  greatly  modified  the  relations  of 
nations,  and  absolutism — if  indeed  it  exists — no  longer 
alarms  the  friends  of  democracy.  That  the  Monroe  Doc- 
trine may  be  again  set  up  as  a  warning  or  inhibition,  is  not 
improbable,  but  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  there  may  be  brought, 
and  it  is  believed  that  there  will  be  brought  to  the  considera- 
tion and  adjustment  of  differences  and  misunderstandings 
not  the  inflamed  temper  of  the  jingoist,  but  the  catholic 
spirit  of  the  patriot. 


THE  MODERN  MEANING  OF  THE  MONROE  DOC- 
TRINE 

By  J.  M.  Callahan,  Ph.D.,  Professor  of  History  and 
Politicul  Science,  West  Virginia  University 

It  is  unfair  to  say  that  the  Monroe  Doctrine  was  a  mere 
pronunciamento  based  on  provincialism  and  selfishness, 
and  that  it  has  never  serv'ed  any  useful  purpose. 

True,  one  of  its  earlier  basic  ideas  was  the  natural  sepa- 
ration between  the  old  and  the  new  world — an  idea  of  two 
separate  spheres  which  was  unwarranted  however  much  it 
may  have  seemed  desirable  to  Jefferson  in  the  Napoleonic 
period  of  "eternal  war"  in  Europe.  This  idea  of  isolation 
was  never  a  vital  principle  of  the  doctrine.  The  United 
States  was  a  world  power  from  the  beginning  and  early 
felt  the  need  of  naval  bases  in  the  Mediterranean.  As  a 
world  power  it  has  rights  in  Europe,  Africa  and  Asia. 

True,  the  Doctrine  was  largely  due  to  self  interest,  to- 
gether with  the  feeling  that  the  United  States  was  logically 
the  political  leader  among  the  American  powers.  Secre- 
tary Adams  in  his  instnictions  to  Rush,  on  November 
29,  1823,  said:  "American  affairs,  whether  of  the  northern 
or  southern  continent,  can  henceforth  not  be  excluded  from 
the  interference  of  the  United  States.  All  questions  of 
policy  relating  to  them  have  a  bearing  so  direct  upon  the 
rights  and  interests  of  the  United  States  that  they  can  not 
be  left  to  the  disposal  of  European  powers  animated  and 
directed  exclusively  by  European  prinri])lcs  and  interests." 

The  United  States,  beginning  with  tlie  transfer  of  Loui- 
siana from  Spain  to  France  in  1801  and  the  api)rehended 
transfer  of  Fh^rida  from  Spain  to  some  other  European 
power  in  1811,  has  steadily  opposed  any  European  acqui- 
eition  of  American  territor\'  which  as  a  European  colony 
might  prove  dangerous  to  American  peace  and  security. 

161 


J.  M.  CALLAHAN 

e  Monroe  Doctrine,  based  upon  this  principle,  has  been 
preeminently  a  doctrine  of  peace — especially  secured  by 
freeing  the  Americans  from  the  contests  of  European  diplo- 
macy and  politics.  In  1905,  President  Roosevelt  said  the 
doctrine  as  gradually  developed  and  applied  to  meet  chang- 
ing needs  and  conditions,  and  as  accepted  by  other  nations, 
was  one  of  the  most  effective  instruments  for  peace  in  the 
western  hemisphere. 

Although  its  policy  was  based  on  self  interest,  the  American 
government  under  Monroe  gave  proper  consideration  to 
the  interests  of  Latin  America.  Although  in  recognizing 
the  independence  of  Spanish  American  countries,  it  had 
issued  a  declaration  of  neutrality,  Secretary'  Adams  later 
(October,  1823)  informed  the  Russian  minister  that  this 
declaration  "had  been  made  under  the  observance  of  like 
neutrality  by  all  the  European  powers"  and  might  be 
changed  by  change  of  circumstances.  The  Monroe  Doc- 
trine which  followed  was  directly  caused  by  the  belief  in 
the  right  of  free  peoples  to  determine  their  destinies — and 
by  it  the  United  States,  with  unusual  courage,  became  a 
protector  of  liberty  and  self  government  in  the  western 
hemisphere.  Its  high  purpose  and  convenient  usefulness 
was  properly  recognized  at  the  time  by  the  weak  Latin- 
American  republics.  It  was  the  outgrowth  of  the  sympathy 
felt  for  Latin  American  peoples  who  were  struggling  to  free 
themselves  from  conditions  imposed  by  European  poli- 
tics and  who  had  been  recognized  as  independent  nations 
by  the  United  States.  Monroe,  who  previously  as  secre- 
tary of  state  was  familiar  with  Latin  American  conditions, 
at  first  contemplated  a  bold  stand  to  prevent  Euro]iean 
interference  in  Spain  itself.  .After  the  decision  to  limit 
the  scope  of  active  opposition  to  the  threatened  European 
intervention  in  American  alTaiis,  he  appointed  a  special 
secret  representative  to  visit  Europe,  to  watch  the  opera- 
tions of  European  congresses  and  to  furnish  reports  as  a 
basis  of  determination  of  yVmerican  policy.  Luckily  he 
was  successful  in  blocking  intervention  without  resort  to 
VjQore  acti\'e  measures. 

The  Doctrine  has  prevented  the  partition  of  Latin  America, 


MODERN  MEANING  OF  MONROE  DOCTRINE  1G3 

and  without  any  request  of  remuneration  for  the  service 
rendered.  Its  unselfish  purpose  and  unusual  daring,  in 
face  of  what  seemed  a  serious  peril,  gave  it  a  well  deserved 
popularity  both  in  the  United  States  and  in  Latin  America 
countries — many  of  which  have  in  many  instances  since 
endeavored  to  secure  treaty  stipulations  based  upon  its 
principles,  or  have  invited  the  United  States  actively  to 
intervene  to  protect  them  from  the  apprehended  interven- 
tion of  European  powers  or  from  despots  who  might  pre- 
pare the  way  for  European  intervention. 

In  spite  of  apparent  lapses  of  consistency,  illustrated  in 
the  case  of  the  Clayton-Bulwei'  treaty  (which  was  sup- 
ported as  a  measure  which  was  expected  to  free  an  impor- 
tant part  of  the  continent  from  European  intervention),  the 
basic  principles  of  the  Doctrine,  interpreted  with  proper 
elasticity  to  meet  changing  conditions,  were  asserted  with 
success  in  other  later  cases.  The  most  notable  cases  were 
the  termination  of  French  intervention  in  Mexico  in  1S67, 
and  the  settlement  of  the  Venezuelan  boundary  dispute 
with  England  in  1895-96 — after  the  famous  Cleveland- 
Olney  interpretation  which  resulted  in  a  triumph  of  the 
American  demand  for  arbitration,  awakened  the  entire 
world  to  the  rnodern  meaning  of  the  ''menaces  of  Mom-oe," 
and  caused  Someone  to  regard  the  Doctrine  as  an  interna- 
tional unpertinence.  Although  originally'  a  mere  declara- 
tion of  Monroe,  nobody  since  the  action  of  the  United  States 
in  the  Venezuelan  affair  can  surely  say  it  has  never  had  the 
sanction  of  Congress. 

The  Doctrine,  although  based  primarily  upon  the  right 
of  I^tin  American  states  to  govern  themselves,  has  been 
sometimes  erroneously  regarded  as  a  doctrine  of  .\meiican 
expansion.  It  is  not  based  on  territorial  conquest — al- 
though over  half  a  century  ago  it  was  sometimes  associated 
with  that  idea.  It  expresses  a  duty  and  a  sympathy  to- 
ward Latin  America  and  not  a  desire  for  territory.  Ameri- 
cans, who  logically  in  their  early  history  established  their 
bdundaries  on  the  gulf,  for  a  half  century  have  not  been 
inclined  to  encroach  upon  the  territories  of  their  neighbors. 

It  is  true  that  much  Latin  .Vmerican  suspicion  of  v\jneri- 


164  J.  M.  CALLAHAN 

can  territorial  designs  was  justified  in  the  decade  before 
the  American  civil  war,  when  under  the  influence  of  .Amer- 
ican leaders  of  the  southern  states,  the  shibboleth  of  ''Mani- 
fest Destiny"  was  added  to  the  doctrine  of  national  security . 
In  January,  1855,  ]\Iarcoleta  of  the  Nicaragua  legation  pro- 
tested against  the  projects  of  the  self-styled  "Central  Amer- 
ican Land  and  Mining  company"  to  encourage  immigration 
to  Central  America,  and  especially  against  the  nature  of 
the  "schemes  devised  against  Central  .America  by  these 
modern  Phoenicians  who  assume  military  titles  .... 
and  grasp  the  sword  and  musket  instead  of  the  plough- 
share and  ax  and  shepherd's  crook,  thinking  to  make 
conquest  of  the  golden  fleece  which  they  believe  to  be 
hung  and  secreted  amidst  the  briars,  forests,  thickets 
and  swamps  ....  under  the  by  no  means  attrac- 
tive and  seductive  influence  of  a  pestiferous  and  fever- 
giving  atmosphere."  Suspicion  was  doubtless  increased 
in  1856  by  plans  for  an  American  protectorate  over  the 
Isthmus  of  Panama,  formulated  in  a  treaty  (between  the 
United  States  and  New  Granada)  whose  ratification  was 
prevented  by  a  change  of  administration  in  the  United 
States  and  a  revolution  in  New  Granada.  These  sus^ 
picions  were  prominent  in  producing  the  project  of  a  Latin- 
American  Confederacy  of  1856 — a  proposed  alliance  which 
was  regarded  as  antagonistic  to  the  United  States,  and 
which  caused  Dana,  the  ^American  minister  to  Bolivia,  to 
propose  to  the  Buchanan  administration  early  in  1857  a 
clear  statement  of  American  foreign  policy  based  upon 
the  Monroe  Doctrine,  non-expansion  in  Jvatin  America, 
and  treaties  of  alliance  with  the  Latin  American  states,  in 
order  to  sustain  self  government  in  both  Americas.  /In  1858, 
in  connection  with  the  policy  of  the  American  government 
to  secure  a  neutral  transit  route  across  Central  America, 
Nicaragua  issued  a  manifesto  against  apprehended  fili- 
bustering expeditions  from  the  United  States,  and  by  de- 
manding a  European  protectorate  indicated  a  line  of  policy 
which  Secretary  Cass  promptly  warned  her  that  the  United 
States  had  long  opposed  and  would  resist  by  all  means 
in  her  power,  for  reasons  "founded  on  the  political  circura- 


MODERN  MEANING  OF  MONROE  DOCTRINE  165    ] 

atances  of  the  American  continent  which  has  interests  of 
its  own."  ^ 

It  is  true  that,  after  the  Gadsden  purchase,  persistent 
efforts  were  niade  under  the  administrations  of  Pierce  and 
Buchanan,  not  only  to  extend  American  influence  and  do- 
main in  the  West  Indies,  but  also  to  solve  the  Mexican 
problem  by  additional  reduction  of  Mexican  territory — or 
by  the  establishment  of  an  American  protectorate  which 
was  expected  to  result  in  new  acquisitions  to  the  stronger 
country.  These  efforts,  largely  based  on  the  danger  of 
European  influence  and  apprehended  European  interven- 
tion in  Mexico,  closed  with  the  beginning  of  the  American 
civil  war  and  with  the  arrival  of  the  long-predicted  Euroi)ean 
intervention  in  Mexico. 

Under  Seward,  the  American  government  sought  only  to    \ 
preserve  Mexico  from  the  Confederates  and  from  perma-     \ 
nent  European  occupation,  and  the  American  senate  re-      1 
fused  to  enter  into  any  arrangement  by  which  a  proposed      I 
mortgage  on  lands  of  Mexico  might  have  resulted  in  new      I 
annexations.      Later,    although    Mexico    feared    American     / 
expansion  toward  the  southwest  and  hesitated  to  cooperate    / 
in   the  construction  of  railroads  across  the  international    / 
boundary,   the  United   States  government  remained   true 
to  the  assurances  of  Seward  in  Mexico  after  the  expulsion 
of  r^Iaximilian.     It   sought   no  acquisition   of   territory  in 
Mexico;  and  much  less  did  it  desire  territory  in  Latin  Ameri- 
ca farther  south,  except  in  connection  with  the  later  projects 
for  the  construction  of  the  interoceanic  canal  whose  bene- 
fits would  be  shared  by  Latin  America  and  the  entire  world. 

The  part  taken  by  the  Ignited  States  in  Cuba  and  in  t!ie 
Venezuelan  controversy  with  the  European  allies  has  re- 
vealed to  Latin  America  the  true  feeling  of  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States.  It  has  shown  them  that  the 
mother  republic  is  sincerely  and  earnestly  interested  in  the 
success  of  republican  government  throughout  this  homi- 
sphere.  It  has  shown  that  the  purpose  of  the  older  republic 
in  relations  with  Latin  America  is  not  one  of  conquest,  but 
one  of  sympathy,  cooperation,  and  jissistance.  The  true 
policy  of  the  /Vmerican  government  since  the  civil  war  was 


/ 


166  J.  M.  CALLAHAN 

recently  expressed  by  Secretary  Root,  and  more  recently 
by  President  Wilson  in  his  Mobile  speech. 

The  idea  of  an  American  interoceanic-isthmian  canal, 
which  possibly  was  considered  as  a  minor  factor  in  producing 
the  original  declaration  of  Monroe,  was  later  a  prominent 
factor  in  causing  the  United  States  government  to  assert 
a  status  of  "paramount  interest,"  which  is  now  empha- 
sized as  a  cardinal  point  of  American  foreign  pohcy  growing 
from  the  basic  principle  of  the  policy  of  Monroe  and  Adams. 
Seward  steadilj--  acting  under  the  doctrine  of  the  larger  in- 
fluence and  interests  of  the  United  States  in  American  affairs, 
in  1864  began  to  assert  it  in  a  series  of  negotiations  and 
treaties  with  Central  America  and  Columbia  in  regard  to  the 
proposed  isthmian  canal.  His  successor,  under  Grant's  ad- 
ministration, hopefully  expecting  the  future  "voluntary 
departure  of  European  government  from  this  continent  and 
the  adjacent  islands,"  in  1870-77  favored  the  acquisition  of 
San  Domingo,  as  a  measure  of  national  protection  to  pre- 
vent the  apprehended  danger  of  its  control  as  a  possession 
or  a  protectorate  of  a  European  power,  and  to  secure  a 
"just  claim  to  a  controlling  influence"  over  the  future  com- 
mercial traffic  across  the  isthmus.  Later,  he  endeavored 
to  negotiate  with  Columbia  a  treaty  by  which  he  sought 
for  the  United  States  a  greater  privileged  status  and  more 
extensive  rights  of  intervention  on  the  isthmus — a  treaty 
which  Columbia  refused  to  ratify.  In  1880,  Secretary 
Evarts  aserted  the  doctrine  of  American  "paramount  in- 
terest" in  projects  of  interoceanic  canal  communication 
across  the  isthmus,  and  the  right  to  be  a  principal  party 
to  any  political  arrangements  affecting  this  American  ques- 
tion. This  doctrine  received  new  meaning  in  1881  after 
the  occupation  of  Eg>T)t  by  Great  Britain  which  already 
owned  a  controlling  majority  of  the  stock  of  the  Suez  Canal, 
and  again  after  the  events  of  the  American  intervention 
in  Cuba  which  brought  new  opportunities,  new  duties  and 
new  responsibilities  to  the  United  States.  The  construc- 
tion of  the  canal  under  American  control  was  the  logical 
conclusion  of  a  long  series  of  events;  and  the  wisdom  of  the 
diplomacy  and   policj^  which   seized   opportunity  by   the 


MODERN  MEANING  OF  MONROE  DOCTRINE  1  ()7 

forelock,  and  terminated  the  long  period  of  discussion  and 
dela}^  can  safely  be  submitted  to  the  test  of  time. 

Although  changed  conditions  in  both  hemispheres,  and  of 
motive  power  on  the  ocean,  have  modified  the  earlier  mean- 
ing of  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  and  may  still  further  modify 
it,  its  main  basic  principle  for  America  has  not  been  aban- 
doned. This  principle  is  not  obsolete.  It  has  been  re- 
tained on  the  broad  ground  of  national  welfare,  in  spite  of 
the  defects  in  Latin  American  governments  so  frequently 
resulting  in  troubles  due  to  unpaid  claims;  and  European 
powers  Iiave  recently  shown  a  readiness  to  accept  it  at  the 
Hague  Conference  and  in  connection  with  the  Venezuelan 
debt  question  of  1902.  The  latter  incident,  according  to 
leaders  in  England,  gave  the  Monroe  Doctrine  an  immensely 
increased  authority.  Mr.  Balfour,  approving  the  .Ajnerican 
policy,  suggested  that  the  United  States  should  more  ac- 
tively enter  into  an  arrangement  by  which  constantly- 
occurring  difliculties  between  European  powers  and  cer- 
tain states  in  Latin  America  could  be  avoided. 

Unless  we  have  reached  the  conclusion  that  all  Latin 
America  might  be  better  under  European  control,  and  that 
this  control  would  not  seriously  threaten  the  peace  and 
permanent  interests  of  the  United  States,  at  least  one  im- 
portant principle  of  the  Doctrine  should  still  be  retained 
as  a  fundamental  part  of  American  foreign  policy.  Under 
whatever  name,  and  however  modified  to  suit  the  conditions 
and  needs  of  American  foreign  policy,  it  is  still  a  useful 
principle.  It  ma}'  fitly  be  called  the  doctrine  of  national 
defense,  which  in  its  results  may  be  regarded  also  as  a  doc- 
trine of  Pan-American  defense.  In  America  the  United 
States  government  has  duties  and  responsibilities  which  can 
not  be  abandoned  to  the  mercy  of  trans-oceanic  powers,  nor 
submitted  to  the  decision  of  international  conferences  or 
tribunals.  It  must  attend  to  the  larger  interests  of  the 
United  States — without  any  unnecessary  interference  with 
the  larger  interests  of  other  powers.  Certainly,  in  Mex- 
ico at  present,  the  United  States  has  a  larger  interest  than 
that  of  any  European  power.  She  has  a  far  greater  interest 
than  any  other  power  in  the  restoration  of  peace  and  the 


1 


1G8  J.  M.  CALLAHAN 

establisliment  of  a  government  that  has  proper  basis  or 
permanency  in  its  method  of  selection  and  in  its  policies 
for  adjustment  of  problems  that  press  for  solution.  Peace 
in  America,  on  the  basis  of  good  government,  is  more  im- 
portant to  the  United  States  than  it  is  to  Europe,  and  more 
important  to  the  United  States  than  peace  in  Europe. 

The  present  basis  of  policy  is  the  paramount  interest  of 
the  United  States  in  American  affairs — a  special  interest 
which,  especially  in  the  Caribbean,  can  be  shared  with  no 
other  power,  and  perhaps  would  be  questioned  by  no  Eu- 
ropean power.  After  the  war  for  the  relief  of  the  Cuban 
situation  in  1898 — a  war  which  made  the  United  States 
an  Asiatic  power  and  brought  it  in  contact  with  European 
politics  in  the  far  East — American  paramount  interests  in 
the  West  Indies,  and  in  the  Caribbean,  were  greatly  in- 
creased and  especially  found  expression  in  the  messages 
of  President  Roosevelt  and  in  various  acts  of  the  American 
government — including  the  construction  of  the  Panama 
Canal  which  has  clearly  increased  the  importance  of  main- 
taining around  the  Caribbean  the  American  policy  against 
the  interference  of  European  powers.  In  this  region  the 
United  States  has  duties  and  responsibilities  which  it  may 
not  willingly  share  with  any  European  power. 

Farther  south,  the  assertion  and  maintenance  of  the  doc- 
trine of  non-intervention  has  been  rendered  less  necessary 
by  the  growth  of  several  more  perfect,  orderly  and  stable 
governments,  which  themselves  are  the  best  guarantors  of 
the  Doctrine.  The  larger  Latin  American  republics,  in  which 
governments  have  reached  sure  bases  of  permanence,  may 
properly  be  invited  by  the  United  States  to  cooperate 
or  participate  in  the  consideration  of  mutual  larger  interests 
in  America,  and  to  share  the  responsibilities  incident  to  the 
American  principle  of  defense  of  American  nationalities. 
Doubtless  by  such  a  continental  extension  of  the  means 
of  safeguarding  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  Latin  American  neigh- 
bors through  the  sobering  effect  of  actual  responsibility 
would  cease  to  misinterpret  the  motives  of  the  mother  re- 
public in  the  Caribbean  and  on  the  Isthmus. 

Whether  we  admit  Olney's  declaration  that  "the  United 


MODERN  MEANING  OF  MONROE  DOCTRINE  169 

States  is  practically  sovereign  on  this  continent,"  it  seems 
clear  that  as  a  result  of  its  geographic  situation  it  has  a 
"paramount  interest"  in  the  western  hemisphere  which 
imposes  certain  rules  of  policy  toward  Latin  American  neigh- 
bors— especially  toward  those  in  the  Caribbean  and  around 
its  shores.  This  doctrine  was  at  the  basis  of  the  Cuban 
intervention,  of  the  construction  of  the  Panama  canal  under 
American  control,  of  the  declaration  of  policy  to  Germany 
in  connection  with  the  blockade  of  Venezuelan  ports,  of  the 
policy  in  Santo  Domingo,  of  the  recent  policy  in  Nicara- 
gua, and  of  the  present  ^Mexican  policy.  The  essential 
idea  is  to  prevent  the  danger  of  European  intervention 
which  might  result  in  the  acquisition  of  territory. 

A  possible  result  of  this  policy  is  the  intervention  of 
the  United  States  to  set  in  order  the  conditions  which  invite 
foreign  intervention.  Such  a  policy,  however  undesirable, 
may  be  necessary  unless  the  United  States  is  ready  to  aban- 
don its  past  policy  in  regard  to  European  intervention. 
Actual  intervention  of  force  of  arms  is  a  possible  necessity 
which  the  American  government,  judging  for  itself  the  ac- 
tion which  the  situation  may  require,  would  undertake 
only  after  much  forbearance  and  as  a  last  resort  to  secure 
peace  between  warring  factions,  and  to  prevent  dangers 
more  serious.  Such  intervention  was  contemplated  in 
^lexico  in  1867,  but  was  fortunately  avoided  by  the  French 
withdrawal  which  precipitated  the  fall  of  ^laximilian. 

In  case  a  European  power  seeks  redress  for  an  injury 
which  can  be  fairly  settled  only  by  occupation  of  soil, 
the  .Vmerican  government  might  logically  be  forced  to  ac- 
cept the  r61e  of  international  policemen  and  assume  re- 
sponsibility of  satisfying  the  injured  party.  Against  Vene- 
zuela in  1902,  the  United  States  permitted  a  military  debt 
collecting  demonstration  with  the  assurance  that  no  terri- 
tory would  be  occupied.  She  determined  the  reasonable- 
ness of  the  demand  upon  the  delinquent  government,  and 
also  the  method  of  collection.  In  the  case  of  Santo  Do- 
mingo, she  prevented  the  necessity  of  European  inter- 
vention by  assuming  administrative  control  of  the  Do- 
minican finances  for  the  purpose  of  pa>ing  foreign  credi- 


170  J.  M.  CALLAHAN 

tors,  and  with  no  view  to  territorial  aggression.  These 
two  cases  indicate  the  purpose  of  the  American  government 
at  Washington  to  prevent  the  use  of  the  non-intervention 
principle  of  the  traditional  American  pohcy  as  a  shield 
to  protect  delinquent  Latin  American  republics  from  the 
payment  of  debts,  as  it  was  used  in  the  case  of  the  proposed 
joint  European  expedition  against  Mexico  in  1859. 

The  United  States  has  never  had  a  wish  to  interfere  in 
the  internal  policies  of  Latin  American  neighbors.  She 
has  had  no  desire  to  interfere  with  those  which  are  orderly, 
and  no  inclination  to  interfere  with  those  which  are  dis- 
orderly. But  in  the  case  of  Mexico  she  has  refused  recog- 
nition to  de-facto  governments  irregularly  or  unfairly  elected. 
The  election  of  Maximilian  by  a  reported  "immense  major- 
ity" was  regarded  as  a  farce. 

The  maintenance  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  places  upon  the 
United  States  a  responsibility  to  prevent  its  foreign  policy 
from  becoming  a  shield  to  protect  the  existence  of  revolu- 
tion, anarch}^  and  military  despotism  which  increases  the 
debts  of  neighboring  Latin  .American  countries  and  re- 
sults in  vast  foreign  claims  for  property  destroyed.  The 
proteges  of  American  foreign  pohcy  should  more  carefully 
seek  to  maintain  orderly  and  well  administered  governments 
which  will  not  invite  foreign  wrath.  In  Central  America, 
the  disorder  might  be  reduced  by  federation;  but  the  prob- 
lem is  beset  by  many  difficulties. 

The  supreme  need  of  these  repubUcs  is  to  estabhsh  a 
basis  by  which  changes  of  poHcies  and  parties  can  be  made 
peacefully  through  the  ballot  box.  The  continued  dis- 
orderly condition  of  affairs  must  either  result  in  the  abro- 
gation of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  so  far  as  it  protects  them, 
or  in  the  alternative  of  a  more  active  .American  policy  to 
secure  more  peaceful  internal  conditions.  It  is  possible 
that  arbitration  in  some  form  may  be  applied  to  civil  com- 
motions in  such  away  as  to  afford  a  general  remedy  if  elections 
are  free  and  fairly  conducted.  Possibly,  some  plan  for  the 
establishment  of  a  receivership  for  delinquent  states  could 
be  devised  by  a  conference  of  American  states.  Such  a 
plan   might  prove  of  great   value  in  securing  peace — and 


MODERN  MEANING  OF  MONROE  DOCTRINE  171 

might  in  some  instances  provide  for  taking  charge  of  the 
government  pending  a  presidential  election.  In  some  in- 
stances the  plan  might  result  or  terminate  in  confederations 
which  would  reduce  the  dangers  of  future  disorder  and  pre- 
pare the  way  for  peace  and  prosperity.  Under  the  receiver- 
ships, ballot  reforms  and  regulation  of  election  systems  could 
be  inaugurated.  The  United  States  as  a  near  neighbor 
stands  in  a  favorable  position  to  take  the  initiative  in  the 
consummation  of  such  reforms. 

With  the  development  of  orderly  governments  around 
the  Caribbean — governments  which  can  maintain  for  them- 
selves the  same  principle  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  which  has 
served  as  their  protection — the  United  States  will  gladly  be 
relieved  from  the  often  embarrassing  responsibility  by  which 
she  has  sought  to  preserve  constitutional  government  and 
peace  on  this  hemisphere — especially  in  the  part  of  it  where 
she  has  the  largest  share  of  responsibility  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  order. 


THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE^ 

By  Albert  Bushnell  Hart,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  Government, 

Harvard  University 

Shock  at  seeing  the  foundations  of  a  life-time  swept  away 
by  the  preceding  speakers,  but  willing  to  accept  a  change  of 
attitude  caused  by  change  of  conditions. 

I.     Feeling   of   Confidence   in    the    Statesmen   Who 
Have  Guided  the  United  States 

Among  these  who  have  laid  down  a  distinct  doctrine 
with  regard  to  our  relations  with  other  American  states 
are:  Jefferson,  Monroe,  John  Quincy  Adams,  Polk,  Sew- 
ard, Grant,  Cleveland,  Roosevelt  and  Wilson. 

Tendency  in  the  speaker's  mind  to  believe  in  his  country- 
men, and  in  the  uprightness  and  the  sagacity  of  those  whom 
they  have  put  at  their  head. 

Certain  that  they  did  not  all  mean  the  same  thing  by 
what  most  of  them  call  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  but  they  all 
recognized  the  need  of  a  policy  which  did  not  coincide  with 
the  general  policy  of  the  country  toward  foreign  nations. 

All  of  them  impelled  to  the  declaration  (of  whatever 
nature)  by  the  desire  to  secure  peace. 

Not  one  of  them  (except  Polk)  intended  his  form  of  the 
Monroe  Doctrine  to  cover  territorial  aggressions  upon  his 
neighbors. 

II.     A  Special  Kind  of  Policy  is  Absolutely  Neces- 
sary Because  the  Conditions  of  American  For- 
eign Relations  are  Different  from  Those  of 
Relations  with  European  Powers 

Satisfaction  of  the  speaker  on  seeing  his  former  stu- 
dents disagree  with  him. 

'Outline  of  Address  at  the  Conference  at  Clark  University. 

172 


THE   MONROE    DOCTRINE  173 

Suppose  an  administration  formed  of  the  gentlemen  pres- 
ent who  have  taken  ground,  either  for  or  against  what  is 
commonly  called  the  r^Ionroe  Doctrine: 

President,  Hollander;  Secretary  of  State,  Callahan;  Sec- 
retary of  the  Navy,  Admiral  Chadwick;  Attorney-General, 
Mr.  Tucker;  Ambassadors  at  large  of  Latin  America,  Pro- 
fessor Blakeslee,  and  Professor  Bingham;  Expert  in  Latin 
American  Affairs,  Minister  Pezet — What  policy  would  that 
administration  adopt? 

III.  Limited  Interest  of  the  United  States  in  Euro- 

pean Nations 

Clearly  the  United  States  is  not  in  the  assembly  of  Euro- 
pean powers,  though  they  cannot  escape  several  intimate 
connections  with  those  policies. 

1.  Through  the  existence  of  European  colonies  (espe- 
cially British)  in  America. 

2.  Tlirough  the  immigration  of  Europeans  and  conse- 
quent questions  of  nationality  and  citizenship. 

3.  Through  our  footing  in  Asia,  in  close  contact  with 
settlements  of  European  powers. 

IV.  Especial  Interest  of  the  United  States  in  Ameri- 

can Questions 

1.  Physical  nearness  and  contiguity  of  Mexico  and  Cuba. 

2.  Infiltration  of  .Vmericans  into  other  American  coun- 
tries. 

3.  Immigration  of  other  Americans  (particularly  Mexi- 
cans) into  the  United  States. 

4.  Investment  of  American  capital  in  /Vmerican  coun- 
tries. 

5.  The  Panama  Canal  as  a  great  inter- .\merican  highway. 

V.  Great  Interest  of  the  United  States  in  all  Ameri- 

can  Territorial   Questions 

1.  Advance  into  Louisiana,  West  Florida,  Texas,  New 
Mexico  and  California. 


174  ALBERT  BUSHNELL  HART 

2.  Possession  of  Alaska. 

3.  Canal  as  a  territorial  possession. 

4.  The  Canal  as  an  "extension  of  our  coast  line." 

VI.  Special  Interest  in  Home  Government  of  Ameri- 

can Neighbors 

1.  Transfer  of  the  foci  of  insurrection  across  the  border. 

2.  Loss  of  life  and  property  of  Americans  from  bad  gov- 
ernments. 

3.  DifiBculty  of  maintaining  poHte  relations  with  irreg- 
ular and  despotic  governments. 

4.  Excitement    and    irritation    caused    in    the    United 
States. 

VII.  Special  jMilitary  Interest  in  American  Condi- 

tions 

1.  West  India  Islands  as  bases  of  military  and  naval 
operations. 

2.  Northeastern  and  northwestern  British  possessions  as 
bases. 

3.  Panama  Canal  as  a  military  objective. 

VIII.     Desirability  of   Maintaining    Peace   in 

America 

1.  By   preventing   wars   between   foreign   nations   and 
American  powers. 

2.  By  preventing  internal  wars  between  American  na- 
tions. 

3.  By  preventing  internal  insurrections  within  an  Amer- 
ican neighbor  country. 

4.  By  avoiding  causes  of  war  between  the  United  States 
and  our  neighbors. 

IX.    Doctrine  of  Inferior  Nations 

1.     Such  nations  exist  in  various  parts  of  the  earth,  i.e. 
Persia,  the  Balkan  States,  Turkey,  Portugal. 


THE  MONROE   DOCTRINE  175 

2.  Such  states  are  members  of  the  family  of  nations, 
but  are  in  the  position  of  minority  stock-holders. 

3.  The  policy  of  European  nations  is  to  supervise  such 
powers. 

X.    Upon   the   Basis  of  These   Underlying  Condi- 
tions What  is  the  Natural  Policy  of  the  United 
States — Whether  You  Call  It  the  Monroe 
Doctrine  or  Some  Other  Doctrine? 

1.  No  conferences  or  congresses  with  foreign   natiohs         *    *     ^ 
upon  American  affairs. 

2.  Recognition  of  special  interest  and  special  friend- 
ship for  the  American  neighbors. 

3.  Acceptance  of  the  Drago  Doctrine,  so  that  no  power 
shall  use  military  force  for  the  collection  of  contract  debts. 

4.  Recognition  of  the  presumption  of  the  international 
equality  with  the  United  States  of  those  Latin  .\merican 
powers  who  shall  have  demonstrated  their  capacity  to  take 
care  of  themselves. 

5.  Recognition  of  Latin  American  governments  which 
clearly  are  supported  by  the  people  of  the  country — but 
not  of  political  adventurers  as  heads  of  the  state. 

G.  Moral  aid  to  all  peoples  who  are  tying  to  raise  their 
civilization. 

"If  this  be  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  make  the  most  of  it. 


>) 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  OUR   LATIN-AMERICAN 

TRADE 

By  Hon.  John  Hays  Hammond,  LL.D. 

It  is  unfortunate  that  the  solution  of  great  problemfi 
purely  economic  in  character  is  not  entirely  dissociated  from 
I^i4^  4^  P©rl5^  pAliti^,  bui*suckis,  nevertheless^,  tjie  fact.  Legisla- 
tion affecting  the  tariff,  tj^e  currency  and  other  problemf 
essentially  economic  ^hd  vital  to  the  welfare  of  the  entire 
•  '-**--  swivui  is  dfe.te#mi«ed  too  of.ten  on  strictlyi.politi(^l  lines- 
settled,  indeed,  in  a  lar^e  njeasure'by  politician^  upon  the 
stump,  not  by  business  men  in  Boards  ofjtrade. 

What  I  shall  say  with  respect  to  foreign  trade  is  from  the 
point  of  view  of  a  business  man  and  I  assure  you  that  amy 
criticisms  I  make  which  may  seem  suggestive  of  partisan- 
ship are  made  entirely  free  from  political  bias. 

I  have  been  requested  to  speak  of  our  government's  Mex- 
ican policy,  but,  in  view  of  the  critical  condition  of  negotia- 
tions now  pending  with  Mexico,  I  would  prefer  to  speak  oi 
foreign  trade  in  general.  I  would  say  this,  however,  that, 
irrespective  of  what  we  may  think  individually  of  President 
Wilson's  Mexican  policy  in  the  present  serious  situation,  we 
must  back  him  up  collectively. 

"As  a  great  industrial  nation,  especially  in  manufactured 
products,  the  United  States  leads  the  world.  Of  the  value 
of  these  products  in  the  year  1910,  amounting  to  $20,000,- 
000,000,  our  home  market  absorbed  $19,000,000,000,  or  9t 
per  cent,  and  our  exports  amounted  to  $1,000,000,000,  oi 
only  5  per  cent."  Authorities  regard  this  as  nearing  the 
limit — that  is  to  say,  the  point  of  saturation — of  our  domes- 
tic markets,  so  far  as  present  demands  during  normal 
periods  are  concerned.  It  is  because  of  the  extraordinary 
capacity  of  our  home  markets  that  our  nation  hitherto  has 
made  no  strenuous  efforts  to  exploit  foreign  markets.  Great 
Britain  and  Germany,  on  the  other  hand,  with  comparative!} 

176 


OUR   LATIN-AMERirAX    Tn.\DE  177 

restricted  domestic  markets,  have  paid  more  attention  to 
the  development  of  foreign  trade,  and  for  that  reason  the 
value  of  the  annual  exports  "of  each  of  these  nations  has 
exceeded  that  of  the  United  States  by  30  per  cent." 

A  new  tariff  has  been  recently  enacted.  It  will  result, 
as  was  designed,  in  an  increased  importation  of  manufac- 
tured products,  aggregating,  probably,  a  very  large  amount. 
The  inevitable  effect  of  such  imports  will  be  to  restrict  the 
capacity  of  our  home  markets  for  domestic  products.  (I 
am  not  discussing  the  merits  of  the  new  tariff,  but  referring 
only  to  its  inevitable  effect  in  this  one  particular.) 

Therefore,  having  regard  to  these  facts,  it  is  obvious  that 
we  must  either  curtail  the  capacity  of  our  factories,  which 
would  result  in  throwing  out  of  employment  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  wage  earners,  or  we  must  depend  upon  the 
exploitation  of  foreign  markets  for  the  relief  of  our  congest<}d 
industries. 

In  her  foreign  trade  Great  Britain  has  followed  the  lines 
of  least  resistance.  In  the  year  1911  she  exported  to  British 
colonies  and  possessions  (where  she  enjoyed  preferential 
tariff  rates),  35  per  cent  of  her  entire  exports;  while  only 
30  per  cent  was  sent  to  other  manufacturing  countries 
having  a  protective  tariff,  and  of  the  remainder,  a  large  part 
of  her  exports  was  to  countries  where  there  was  no  compe- 
tition on  the  part  of  home  industries,  i.e,  to  neutral  markets. 

.Ajnerica  and  Germany,  on  the  other  hand,  have  succeeded 
in  developing  trade  with  countries  which  have  highly  organ- 
ized competitive  industries  in  the  same  lines  of  merchandise; 
that  is,  America  and  Germany  have  "bucked  the  center," 
while  England  has  "played  the  ends."  Conformably  with 
this  policy  Great  Britain  has  given  special  attention  to  the 
development  of  markets  in  South  America.  Until  recently 
her  supremacy  there  was  acknowledged,  but  the  extraor- 
dinary development  of  German  trade  during  the  past  few 
years  has  threatened  the  predominance  of  English  interests 
in  that  quarter. 

I  agree  with  the  optimism  which  has  been  expressed  as 
to  the  great  opportunity  offered  the  United  States  for  the 
development  of  important  markets  in  South  America,  and 


178  JOHN   HAYS   HAIVIMOND 

especially  on  the  West  Coast,  after  the  opening  of  the  Panama 
Canal.  But  we  shall  undoubtedly  have  to  meet  the  keen 
competition  of  England  and  Germany  and  we  must  be  pre- 
pared to  meet  other  formidable  competitors  as  well — Japan, 
for  example,  which  is  already  gaining  a  firm  commercial 
foothold  even  on  the  eastern  coast  of  South  America. 

In  the  extension  of  her  South  American  trade,  Great 
Britain  has  given  us  an  object  lesson.  Within  a  decade 
she  has  trebled  her  exports  to  Brazil  and  to  Argentina. 
While  this  increase  is  in  a  large  measure  due  to  special 
efforts  in  the  exploitation  of  those  markets,  it  is,  neverthe- 
less, the  fact — and  this  is  a  point  I  wish  to  emphasize — 
that  the  increase  is  chiefly  due  to  the  investment  of  enor- 
mous sums  of  British  capital  in  the  development  of  the 
industries  of  those  countries.  Likewise,  the  experience  of 
Great  Britain  in  many  other  countries  where  British  capi- 
tal has  been  invested  demonstrates  the  proposition  that 
trade  follows  the  investment  of  a  nation's  capital  as  well 
as  a  nation's  flag.  In  short,  the  investment  of  a  nation's 
capital  in  foreign  countries  for  the  development  of  their 
industries  is  the  sesame  that  opens  the  door  of  trade.  How 
wide  the  door  of  trade  will  be  opened  depends  upon  the 
success  attending  that  nation's  efforts  in  securing  rapid  and 
cheap  communication  and  transportation;  in  providing  the 
character  of  commodities  needed  by  the  countries  in  ques- 
tion; in  the  establishment  of  banking  facilities  to  meet  the 
requirements  both  of  the  exporter  and  the  importer,  and, 
finally,  in  the  fostering  of  friendly  relations  by  intimate 
intercourse  between  the  citizens  of  the  respective  nations. 

Now,  in  order  to  stimulate  the  investment  of  capital  in 
foreign  lands  it  is  prerequisite  that  the  investor  be  assured 
of  protection  by  his  government  against  any  unfair  inter- 
ference or  discrimination  on  the  part  of  foreign  governments 
where  these  investments  are  made. 

If  our  nation  is  to  pursue  a  policy  of  laissez-faire  and  de- 
cline to  assume  its  obligation  to  afford  legitimate  protection 
to  its  nationals,  then  its  nationals  will  not  be  so  foolhardy 
as  to  risk  capital  in  the  development  of  foreign  industries. 
Or  if,  in  spite  of  the  lack  of  protection  from  their  govern- 


OUR   LATIN- AMERICAN    TRADE  179 

ment  they  nevertheless  decide  to  make  such  investments, 
they  will  do  so  under  the  auspices  of  the  flags  of  other  na- 
tions which  guarantee  to  their  subjects  proper  protection 
of  life  and  property. 

This  may  be  deprecated  as  "dollar  diplomacy,"  and  I 
would  not  have  such  an  imputation,  because  of  the  insidious 
interpretation  that  has  been  given  by  sentimentalists  to 
commercial  activities  in  foreign  countries  where  the  avowed 
!      subject  is  to  develop  remunerative  business.     If  we  are  to 
I      enjoy  our  share  of  the  commerce  of  the  world  our  diplo- 
[      matic  relations  must  be  conducted  upon  lines  which  we  may 
perhaps  designate  by  a  more  euphemistic  title,  but  which 
essentially  must  be  for  the  object  of  legitimate  gain;  for  the 
investment  of  capital  in  the  development  of  the  industries 
of  foreign  countries  is  not  actuated  solely  by  altruistic  con- 
siderations, nor  is  business  at  home,  for  that  matter,  con- 
ducted under  any  such  Utopian  theory. 

It  will  not  be  necessary  for  our  government  to  assume  a 
truculent  attitude  towards  the  smaller  nations  where  invest- 
ments may  be  less  securely  established  than  in  other  coun- 
tries more  highly  developed  politically  and  industrially.  Nor 
is  it  expected  that  our  government  should  in  any  way  guar- 
antee the  success  of  commercial  enterprises;  for  business 
men  are  willing  to  assume  legitimate  risks  in  their  invest- 
ments. But  it  is,  as  I  have  said,  nevertheless  imperative 
that  our  government  guarantee  the  fair  treatment  of  its 
nationals  who  have  invested  their  capital  in  legitimate  in- 
dustry under  laws  obtaining  in  the  country  when  the  invest- 
ments in  question  were  made.  Certain  it  is  that  laws  result- 
ing in  the  confiscation  of  property  legally  acquired  do  not 
justify  a  great  nation  in  repudiating  its  obligations  to  obtain 
the  redress  of  legitimate  grievances  of  its  citizens.  And 
.  certain  it  is,  also,  that  our  nation,  if  it  hopes  to  compete 
with  other  great  nations  in  the  development  of  foreign  mar- 
kets, must  accord  to  its  citizens  at  least  the  same  guarantee 
of  the  protection  of  life  and  property  as  is  accorded  the 
nationals  of  our  competitors  in  commerce. 

With  all  deference,  I  beg  to  differ  with  the  President  of 
the  United  States  as  to  the  opinions  he  expressed  a  few 


180  JOHN  HAYS  HAMMOND 

weeks  ago  in  what  is  known  as  the  "Mobile  Declaration," 
when  he  states  that  ''interests  do  not  tie  nations  together — 
sometimes  separate  them — but  sympathy  and  understand- 
ing do  bind  them  together."     Ipsissima  verba. 

Sympathy  and  understanding  are  admittedly  essential  to 
binding  nations  together,  but  I  cannot  apprehend  how  sym- 
pathy and  understanding  can  be  developed  without  that 
intimate  intercourse  which  best  results  from  commercial 
relations. 

The  suggestion  is  certainly  ideahstic,  but  I  believe  that 
sentimental  ties  that  do  not  result  from  community  of  inter- 
ests are  far  too  tenuous  to  withstand  the  strain  of  inherent 
racial  and  religious  antipathies. 

What  is  more  ideahstic — sublime — than  the  conception 
that  "marriages  are  made  in  heaven;"  and  yet  even  the 
closest  philosopher,  married  or  unmarried,  knows  that  that 
sympathy  and  understanding  which  is  essential  to  happy 
marriages,  despite  their  divine  origin,  can  be  developed  only 
by  intimate  intercourse  and  by  community  of  interests. 

It  is  community  of  interests  upon  which  we  must  depend 
to  maintain  the  world's  peace. 


ADVANTAGES  OF  MAKING  THE  CANAL  ZONE  A 
FREE  CITY  AND  FREE  PORT 

By  W.  D.  Boyce,  Publisher,  The  Saturday  Blade  and  Chicago 

Ledger 

A  wise  Providence  evidently  intrusted  the  building  of 
the  world's  industries  to  the  human  race.  The  story  of  the 
bringing  of  the  world  into  form  and  the  creation  of  the  first 
man  took  only  600  words  to  tell.  Then  the  trouble  began 
at  an  early  period  by  the  advent  of  woman,  and  the  world 
is  filled  with  volumes  of  records  of  what  has  since  happened. 

In  considering  South  America  commercially,  we  must  first 
analyze  the  original  stock  from  which  these  people  sprang. 
The  first  land  on  the  earth's  surface  appeared  in  Asia,  and 
there  we  still  find  the  highest  mountains.  Undoubtedly 
the  first  man  came  into  life  in  Asia,  and  the  human  race, 
spreading  northeastward  came  to  the  Bering  Strait  between 
Asia  and  North  America.  It  was  only  a  short  walk  on  ice 
for  eight  winter  months  in  the  year,  or  a  journey  of  forty 
miles  in  skin  boats  in  summer,  to  cross  over  to  Alaska.  No 
doubt  the  first  human  being  on  American  soil  was  an  Esqui- 
mau, who  came  from  cold  Siberia,  lived  in  an  igloo  under 
the  ground,  was  small  of  body,  flat  of  chest  and  nostril. 
He  lived  on  fish  and  the  products  of  the  sea,  easily  taken  in 
the  summer  and  dried  or  frozen  for  winter  use.  He  worked 
his  way  farther  south  and  east,  and  presently  lived  on  top 
of  the  ground  winter  and  summer,  and,  with  more  sunlight 
and  air  the  year  around,  developed  a  larger  and  healthier 
body,  bigger  chest  and  a  larger  nose  as  his  lungs  required 
more  air.  He  killed  wild  game,  and  the  animal  fat  agreed 
with  him  better  than  fish,  whale,  seal  or  walrus  oils.  I  want 
to  say  here,  that  the  Esquimaux  and  Indian.^;  never  had  or 
knew  what  consumption,  the  ''white  plague,"  was,  until 
they  caught  it  from  the  white  man,  proving  that  tuber- 
culosis is  contagious. 

The  Indian  improved  until  he  reached  the  warm  country 
near  the  Rio  Grande,  and  there  in  the  hot  climate,  where 

181 


182  W.   D.    BOYCE 

life  was  easy  he  began  to  deteriorate.  This  condition  con- 
tinued through  the  low  parts  of  Central  America  and  the 
equatorial  parts  of  South  America.  We  find,  however,  that 
when  he  got  as  far  south  as  the  high  elevations  of  Columbia, 
Ecuador  and  Venezuela,  he  improved  and  became  stronger 
physically  and  mentally. 

Here  I  want  to  call  your  attention  to  something  few 
people  think  about  when  considering  latitude:  250  feet  in 
elevation  is  equal  to  1  degree  north  or  south  of  the  Equator. 
When  you  are  5000  feet  above  sea  level  on  the  Equator, 
you  have  nearly  the  same  climate  every  month  in  the  year 
that  you  have  20  degrees  north  or  south  of  the  Equator  in 
the  summer  months. 

Another  thing  I  want  to  remind  you  of  in  considering  the 
west  coast  of  South  America,  south  of  the  Panama  Canal, 
is  the  fact  that  from  the  Equator  south  it  is  much  colder 
than  from  the  Equator  north,  on  account  of  the  Humboldt 
Current,  which  is  a  cold-water  stream  flowing  north  from 
the  Antarctic  Ocean,  like  our  Gulf  Stream,  which  tempers 
the  otherwise  icy  shores  of  England,  or  the  Japan  Current, 
on  our  northwest  coast  as  far  north  as  Alaska.  At  Sitka, 
Alaska,  57  degrees  north,  it  seldom  goes  below  zero.  This 
cold-water  stream  from  the  Antarctic  Ocean  cools  off  the 
whole  west  coast  of  South  America,  up  to  the  Equator, 
where  it  turns  west  into  the  Pacific  Ocean.  While  crossing 
the  Equator  on  the  west  coast  of  South  America,  I  slept 
in  my  cabin  covered  by  a  light  blanket. 

A  year  ago  I  was  motoring  through  England  and  Scotland 
with  my  daughter  and  a  young  English  schoolgirl  friend  of 
hers.  We  were  talking  about  how  far  north  we  were  and 
that  our  Gulf  Current  kept  the  little  British  Island  from 
being  frozen  up  eight  months  of  the  year.  I  jokingly  re- 
marked that  if  we  ever  had  trouble  with  England  we  were 
going  to  change  the  course  of  the  Gulf  Stream  and  leave 
the  blooming  country  nothing  but  an  iceberg.  The  young 
lady  solemnly  replied,  "You  wouldn't  be  permitted  to  do 
it,  would  you?"  This  was  no  English  joke,  at  least,  for 
an  English  joke  is  not  to  be  laughed  at. 

But  to  return  to  the  Indian,  the  basic  stock  of  South 


MAKING   IHE   CANAL   ZONE   A    FREE   CITY  183 

America.  He  grew  stronger  with  the  higher,  colder  climate 
of  the  great  Andean  plateau  and  the  necessity  of  hustling 
for  a  living,  until  that  great  race  of  Indians — the  Incas — 
who  lived  on  the  table-lands  of  the  mountains,  with  their 
capital  at  Cuzco,  Peru,  had  developed  a  civilization  equal 
to,  in  many  ways,  that  of  the  Far  East  or  the  Asiatic  coun- 
tries they  sprang  from. 

One  of  the  contradictions  I  find  in  the  development  of  the 
South  American  Indian  races,  is  that  they  were  not  meat 
eaters  to  any  great  extent,  for  there  is  no  evidence  that 
South  America  was  ever  a  big  game  country  like  North 
America  or  Africa.  "WTiile  shooting  big  game  in  the  interior 
of  tropical  Africa,  I  observed  that  the  negroes  who  lived  on 
meat  were  less  intelligent  and  had  less  physical  endurance 
than  the  Coast  black  man  who  lived  on  fruits,  vegetables 
and  fish. 

As  the  North  /\jnerican  Indian  started  weak  and  helpless 
in  the  Arctic  country,  so  I  found  the  native  South  American 
deteriorates  as  we  approach  the  Antarctic  Ocean.  The  low- 
est order  of  the  human  race  I  ever  observed  are  the  Indians 
on  the  Island  of  Tierra  del  Fuego,  south  of  the  Straits  of 
Magellan.  The  conclusions  heretofore  given  are  from  obser- 
vation and  personal  experience  with  the  American  Indians 
from  the  Arctic  to  the  Antarctic  Oceans. 

Columbus  spent  three  years  on  a  small  island  three  miles 
from  the  Island  of  Madeira  in  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  gathering 
evidence  from  whatever  floated  onto  the  shores  of  his  island 
that  there  was  land  a  distance  away  not  so  great  as  to 
destroy  or  break  up  that  which  floated  across  the  waters, 
when  the  trade  winds  were  from  the  west. 

With  this  evidence,  he  returned  to  Spain  and  we  all  know 
how  Queen  Isabella  pawned  her  jewelry  to  back  his  expedi- 
tion, and  the  results.  Both  Columbus  and  the  Queen  be- 
lieved there  was  land  to  the  west  a  few  hundred  miles,  or 
she  would  not  have  "backed"  him  and  he  would  never  have 
been  able  to  get  a  crew  to  sail  with  him. 

The  usual  impression  we  have  is  that  Columbus  sailed 
from  3000  to  4000  miles  from  land  to  land,  but  from  the 
Island  of  Madeira,  where  he  last  embarked  to  the  West  India 


184  W.    D.    BOYCE 

island  he  landed  on,  near  the  coast  of  South  America,  he 
covered  only  a  course  of  about  1600  miles.  We  all  know 
how  the  soldiers  that  followed  the  discoverer  conquered, 
killed  and  robbed  the  poor,  defenseless  and  peaceful  Indians 
of  South  America. 
President  Saenz  Pena  of  Argentine  said  to  me  one  day: 

You '  must  not  measure  South  American  honesty  and  morals 
from  a  North  American  standard;  remember  our  origin.  We  are 
a  mixed  race  of  people  coming  from  the  Indian  and  the  Spanish 
and  Portuguese  soldiers,  who  only  came  to  this  country  to  rob 
the  Indian  of  his  gold,  not  to  make  a  home.  You  people  of  the 
United  States  sprang  from  a  pure  white  North  European  stock 
who  came  to  j^our  country  to  get  away  from  some  political  or 
religious  persecution,  and  to  make  a  home  for  themselves.  We 
are  improving  rapidlj'. 

I  certainly  agree  with  him,  but  I  would  go  still  one 
step  further.  The  South  and  Central  American  people,  as 
a  race,  are  a  cross  between  Latin  Europe  and  the  people 
from  northeastern  Asia — now  developed  into  the  American 
Indian.  With  this  combination  of  white  and  yellow  blood 
to  start  with,  you  are  dealing  commercially  with  a  race 
different  from  any  other  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 

I  consider  it  of  greater  importance  that  you  fully  under- 
tand  the  origin  of  the  people  of  South  and  Central  America 
correctly  at  this  time,  than  how  many  pairs  of  shoes  or 
yards  of  ''Americano"  they  wear  a  year. 

Do  not  forget,  however,  that  there  are  about  5  per  cent 
pure  blood  white  people  in  South  America.  They  are  most 
courteous  and  kind,  and  the  greatest  diplomats  on  earth, 
and  are  the  descendants  of  the  first  families  of  Spain  and 
Portugal.  When  an  office  holder  or  public  man  in  the  United 
States  fails  in  the  confidence  of  the  public  he  loses  his  job — 
down  there  he  loses  his  job  and  frequently  his  head  at  the 
same  time.  In  the  United  States  a  man  may  "come  back," 
but  in  South  America — never. 

Heretofore,  the  greatest  efforts  in  human  progress  have 
followed  the  sun's  course;  hence  the  phrase,  "W^estward  the 
star  of  Empire  takes  its  course."  Our  own  Southern  States' 
progress,  has  been  retarded  through  chasing  this  "star  of 
Empire"  westward  around  the  world.     It  is  high  time  we 


MAKING   'niE   CANAL   ZONE   A    FREE   CITY  185 

were  saying,  "Southward  the  star  of  Empire  takes  it  course." 
The  best  unoccupied  hind  in  the  world  is  now  south  of  the 
Equator. 

CUmate,  soil  and  transportation  have  their  everlasting 
influence  on  the  people,  products  and  commerce  of  any 
country.  The  climate  and  soil  of  South  America  east  of 
the  Andes  range  of  mountains  is  quite  as  good  as  that  of 
the  United  States  of  North  America  east  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  Even  when  you  are  near  the  Equator  the  ele- 
vation of  the  table-lands  gives  a  great  variety  of  products 
and  healthy  climate.  And  when  far  south  near  the  Straits 
of  ^lagellan,  54  degrees  south,  it  never  gets  very  cold, 
because  you  have  open  salt  water  near  you  in  all  directions, 
in  the  Atlantic,  Pacific  and  Antarctic  Oceans. 

The  prevailing  winds  of  South  America  are  from  the  east 
to  the  west,  and  the  moisture  picked  up  on  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  is  gradually  precipitated  until  the  last  drop  is  squeezed 
out — or  frozen  out — on  top  of  the  high  range  of  mountains 
near  the  West  Coast.  The  result  is  that  for  2700  miles  on 
the  Pacific  Coast  it  practically  never  rains  and  the  only 
vegetation  is  from  irrigation,  the  water  being  secured  from 
the  melting  snows  at  the  top  of  the  mountains.  This  2700 
miles  of  rainless  desert,  the  longest  in  the  world,  includes 
all  of  the  coast  of  Peru  and  Chile,  except  the  southern  end 
of  Chile  where  the  mountain  range  is  low  and  but  a  short 
distance  from  the  .Vtlantic  Ocean. 

North  America  has  an  area  of  8,300,000  scjuare  miles; 
South  America  7,700,000  square  miles,  or  7  per  cent  less, 
although  the  area  possible  to  cultivate  is  much  greater  than 
that  of  North  America.  Brazil  alone  is  as  large  as  the  United 
States  and  will  support  four  times  as  many  of  the  human 
family. 

Wlien  you  consider  the  immense  and  numerous  rivers  in 
South  America  navigable  all  the  year  around,  and  the  great 
ocean  shore-line,  also  the  population  and  its  location,  South 
America  is  about  as  well  provided  with  transportation  as 
North  America.  Of  course,  everywhere  in  North  and  South 
America  you  hear,  "We  want  a  railroad,  or  more  boats," 
but  the  40,000,000  people  south  of  the  Panama  Canal  are 


186  W.    D.    BOYCE 

as  well  supplied  as  the  120,000,000  north  of  the  big  ditch. 
The  railroads  are  either  government  owned  and  operated, 
or  built  and  operated  by  private  capital — mostly  English. 
You  find  the  narrow  gauge,  3  feet,  the  standard,  4  feet  8^ 
inches,  or  the  wide  gauge,  5  feet  6  inches,  the  Russian 
standard.  The  first  road  in  Argentina  was  started  by  a 
speculator  who  bought  from  the  English  government  some 
cars  and  engines  used  in  the  Crimean  War  near  Sebastopol, 
in  Russia.  As  more  engines  and  cars  were  needed  the  5 
feet  6  inches  equipment  was  added  to.  "As  the  twig  is 
bent  so  the  tree  is  inclined."  There  are  over  15,000  miles 
of  railroad  in  Argentina  and  the  population  is  less  than 
7,000,000.  The  government  owned  roads  in  South  American 
republics  are  poorly  operated  at  a  great  loss,  but  considered 
necessary  to  move  troops  or  open  up  new  sections  of  the 
republic  to  which  they  may  belong. 

We  export  to  the  whole  world  annually  over  $1,750,000,000 
worth  of  products  from  our  field,  mine  and  factory;  but  to 
the  ten  South  American  republics  only  about  $200,000,000, 
or  about  11  per  cent  of  our  total  exports,  while  our  imports 
from  South  America  as  compared  with  our  exports  to  the 
whole  world  amount  to  25  per  cent.  Our  chief  imports 
from  the  ten  South  American  Republics  are  coffee,  rubber, 
cacao,  hardwoods,  some  copper  and  hides.  The  balance 
of  trade  against  us  with  these  ten  Republics  is  over  100 
per  cent  and  to  even  this  up,  or  to  export  to  them  more 
than  we  import  from  those  countries  is  a  very  serious  com- 
mercial question. 

It  is  the  proud  boast  of  the  United  States  that  we  export 
more  than  we  import,  and  the  figures  show  that  the  balance 
of  trade  with  the  whole  world  is  in  our  favor.  While  figures 
will  not  lie,  we  may  sometimes  be  misled  by  them.  If  we 
will  add  to  our  imports  the  amount  we  pay  foreign  ships 
for  carrying  our  products,  wares  and  passengers,  also  the 
amount  paid  foreign  marine  insurance  companies,  we  might 
find  the  actual  balance  of  commerce  against  us,  despite  the 
favorable  results  that  trade  statistics  show.  WTio  knows? 
Think  it  over. 

I  am  not  going  to  attempt  to  give  you  a  lot  of  figures; 


MAKING   THE   CANAL   ZONE   A    FREE   CITY  187 

you  can  get  complete  and  accurate  statistics  on  any  partic- 
ular line  for  any  Republic  in  South  or  Central  America  by 
applying  to  the  Honorable  John  Barrett,  Director  General 
Pan-American  Union,  Washington,  D.  C. 

How  are  we  going  to  overcome  the  balance  of  trade  with 
South  America,  which  is  against  us?  In  some  ways  we  are 
at  a  great  disadvantage,  in  others  we  have  the  upper  hand. 
First,  we  are  a  food  stuff  and  meat  producing  country,  so 
are  they.  They  can  grow  everything  to  eat  cheaper  than 
we  can.  It  is  very  evident  we  cannot  export  our  agricul- 
tural products  to  South  America.  To  offset  this,  she  has 
little  or  no  iron  ore  or  coal.  We  have  an  abundance.  Every- 
thing in  which  these  two  items  go  to  produce  we  are  the 
natural  source  of  supply — in  fact  we  are  such  a  natural 
source  of  supply  that  I  found  steel  from  the  United  States 
selling  all  over  South  America  at  $10  per  ton  less  than  in 
the  United  States.  In  the  interior  of  BoHvia  our  sewing 
machines  were  selHng  for  }$5  each  less  than  at  home.  We 
can  export  pine  or  soft  woods.  There  is  hardly  a  tree  or 
stick  of  timber  in  South  America  that  will  float  or  make 
paper.  Print  paper  from  the  United  States  was  selling  in 
the  interior  of  South  America  at  the  same  price  I  pay  for 
it  in  Chicago. 

South  America  is  divided  into  ten  republics,  each  having 
the  extremes  of  climate,  hot  or  cold,  through  latitude  or 
altitude,  and  just  as  great  a  diversity  in  the  needs  of  the 
people.  There  is  no  great  demand  in  any  one  republic, 
owing  to  the  small  population,  for  a  large  quantity  of 
manufactured  articles  in  any  one  line,  hence,  little  or  no 
manufacturing. 

To  plainly  show  why  we  should  endeavor  to  establish  a 
permanent  market  for  our  fabricated  wares,  let  me  use  Chile 
as  an  illustration:  Chile  is  2700  miles  long,  with  an  average 
of  less  than  100  miles  in  width,  extending  from  16  degrees 
south  to  56  degrees  south,  all  on  the  Pacific  Ocean,  with  a 
population  of  4,000,000.  The  Chileans  are  called  the  "Yan- 
kees of  South  America."  The  great  variety  of  goods  consumed 
in  small  quantities  in  this  country,  from  the  tropical  zone 
to  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  leaves  manufacturing  unprofitable. 


188  W.    D.    BOYCE 

Chile  is  very  rich  from  the  export  of  nitrate  (saltpeter) 
used  all  over  the  world  in  the  manufacturing  of  gunpowder 
and  as  a  fertilizer.  The  government  alone  receives  annually 
$50,000,000  export  tax  on  this  one  article.  Chile  acquired 
the  nitrate  fields  from  Peru  in  war. 

Forty  per  cent  of  Brazil's  exports  come  to  the  United 
States,  99|  per  cent  of  this  40  per  cent  (mostly  rubber  and 
coffee)  comes  in  free  of  duty,  while  only  12  per  cent  of 
Brazil's  imports  are  received  from  us.  I  discussed  this 
question  with  President  Fonseca  and  asked  him  why  they 
could  not  make  a  lower  tariff  on  our  products.  His  answer 
was,  *'We  would  like  to,  but  we  need  the  money." 

I  visited  a  colony  from  the  United  States  in  Brazil,  at 
Villa  Americano,  state  of  Sao  Paulo,  were  50  per  cent  of 
the  coffee  of  the  world  is  grown  in  this  state  alone.  These 
settlers  were  originally  from  Alabama  and  Georgia,  Eighty 
families — or  360  souls  all  told — left  the  United  States  in 
1867  in  order  to  get  away  from  the  reconstruction  period 
and  go  to  a  country  where  they  could  raise  the  same  prod- 
ucts they  did  at  home.  Although  in  a  rich  coffee  district, 
they  were  sticking  to  sugar  cane,  cotton,  rice  and  water- 
melons. Only  a  few  who  sailed  from  the  United  States 
forty-four  years  before  were  left.  Some  had  returned  to 
the  United  States,  descendants  of  others  were  married  to 
Brazilians,  and  the  general  opinion  was  they  had  gained 
nothing  by  moving.  They  were  mighty  glad  to  see  a  man 
from  home. 

The  South  American  governments  derive  great  incomes 
from  export  taxes.  They  say  they  need  the  money — no 
doubt  about  it.  They  do  not  let  the  other  countries  of  the 
world  enjoy  the  advantages  of  their  cheap  products  or  raw 
stock  without  paying  for  it.  The  tax  is  levied  on  the  con- 
sumer in  foreign  countries.  Peru  has  an  export  tax  on  cop- 
per and  gold,  Brazil  on  coffee  and  rubber,  Paraguay  and 
nearly  all  the  republics  on  raw  hides. 

The  United  States  should  be  best  fitted  to  supply  the  real 
wants  of  South  and  Central  America,  because  we  manufac- 
ture for  home  consumption  for  people  who  are  engaged  in 
agricultural  pursuits  and  we  can  easily  adapt  the  products 


MAKING   THE   CANAL   ZONE   A    FREE   CITY  189 

of  our  factories  to  their  wants  and  customs.  We  cannot 
sell  to  them  articles  exactly  like  we  use  here.  We  must 
make  for  them  what  they  are  accustomed  to  consume,  not 
what  we  think  they  ought  to  have.  The  English  manufac- 
turers lost  most  of  the  South  American  trade  to  the  Ger- 
mans, French,  Italians  and  Spanish,  because  the  last  named 
countries  furnished  what  the  trade  required  irrespective  of 
their  own  ideas  of  quality  or  utility. 

The  Panama  Canal  Zone 

When  in  1840  a  question  was  before  the  United  States 
Senate  affecting  the  interests  of  the  Pacific  Coast,  the  great 
and  wise  Daniel  Webster  stated  that  he  "didn't  know  what 
was  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,"  and  furthermore,  he 
"didn't  give  a  d — n."  That  is  the  way  most  of  thepeople 
of  the  United  States  of  North  America  felt  about  the  coun- 
tries to  the  south  of  us  until  we  began  spending  money  by 
the  hundreds  of  millions  in  building  the  Panama  Canal, 
which  has  now  become  our  southern  boundary  line. 

Up  to  date  the  Panama  Canal  has  cost  France  and  the 
United  States  combined,  over  $1,500,000,000,  principal  and 
interest,  on  the  original  investment,  and  the  end  is  not 
yet,  although  we  will  finally  complete  and  operate  what 
Spain,  England,  Portugal  and  France  attempted,  but  failed 
to  finish — a  navigable  canal  between  the  Pacific  and  Atlantic 
waters. 

If  we  make  a  financial  failure  of  the  Panama  Canal  we 
will  be  discredited  all  over  the  world,  and  especially  in  South 
America.  If  the  United  States  can  make  a  success  out  of 
an  undertaking  primarily  intended  only  to  connect  two 
oceans  so  as  to,  in  effect,  double  the  size  of  our  navy,  we 
will  demonstrate  to  South  America  and  the  world  that  we 
are  mighty  good  people  to  do  business  with. 

Years  ago  the  wise  professors  told  us  that  if  we  connected 
the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  waters  at  Panama  we  would  change 
the  course  of  the  (lulf  Stream.  Spain  referred  the  digging 
of  the  Panama  Caiml  to  the  Church,  but  the  bishops  decided 
iigainst  it  on  the  ground  that  "what  God  has  joined  together 
let  no  man  put  asunder." 


190  W.    D.    BOYCE 

There  is  no  reason  why  the  Canal  Zone  cannot  be  made 
into  a  city  of  500,000  people  in  twenty  years  and  produce 
sufficient  income  from  dockage,  tolls,  taxes,  rents,  leases, 
etc.,  to  pay  the  interest  on  at  least  the  original  capital 
invested  by  the  United  States.  We  have  286,720  acres 
inside  the  Canal  Zone.  Already  many  millions  of  dollars 
have  been  spent  to  make  the  Canal  Zone  sanitary  and  a 
desirable  place  to  live  in  the  year  round.  Nearly  all  of  this 
will  be  a  complete  loss  unless  we  build  a  great  city  there. 
The  Panama  Railroad,  for  which  we  paid  millions  and  spent 
millions  more  to  move  and  rebuild,  will  be  a  "white  ele- 
phant" on  our  hands,  on  the  basis  of  investment,  unless  we 
build  a  big  city  there. 

In  one  way,  a  great  commercial  city  can  be  built  along 
the  whole  canal  from  one  end  to  the  other  with  docks  every- 
where. This  city  would  become  a  gi'eat  commercial  clearing 
house  not  only  for  the  merchants  and  manufacturers  of 
North,  Central  and  South  America,  but  for  the  whole  world. 
Trade  in  every  Republic  on  the  American  continent  is  neces- 
sarily more  or  less  restricted  by  a  protective  tariff,  there- 
fore, we  need  one  spot  at  least  for  free  exchange.  It  is 
just  as  necessary  as  a  clearing  house  for  the  great  banks  in 
our  big  cities. 

Remember,  the  entire  canal  is  a  land-locked,  fresh  water 
harbor,  berthing  the  largest  vessels  in  the  world,  where  bar- 
nacles can  be  scraped  off  the  bottoms  of  ships — an  advan- 
tage possessed  by  only  one  other  great  inland  port  city  in 
the  world.  The  way  to  build  a  big  metropohs  on  the  Canal 
Zone  is  no  experiment,  no  wild  theory.  It  has  been  success- 
fully worked  out  and  proved  by  Germany  and  England  and 
a  number  of  smaller  countries. 

The  way  to  build  a  big  city  at  the  central  point  between 
North  and  South  America,  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans, 
the  Far  East  and  the  Far  West,  is  to  make  the  Canal  Zone 
a  /ree  city  and  free  port.  By  this  I  mean  free  from  import 
or  ex-port  duties  into  and  out  from  the  Canal  Zone.  This 
will  not  affect  the  primary  question  of  tolls  for  passing 
through  the  Canal.  If  created  a  free  port  and  protected 
through  international  treaty,  so  it  could  not  be  affected  by 


MAKING   THE   CANAL   ZONE   A    FREE   CITY  191 

changes  in  our  adniinistration  or  home  poUcies,  merchants 
and  manufacturers  from  all  over  the  world  would  build 
factories  and  warehouses  and  establish  branches  and  agen- 
cies at  this  ivorld  center  for  quick  distribution,  delivery  and 
sale.  Many  South  Americans  would  establish  agencies  and 
branches  there  to  reach  the  world's  commerce.  In  fact,  it 
would  become  an  immense  world's  department  store  where 
everything  for  the  use  of  the  people  of  all  nations  could  be 
found.  It  would  become  the  greatest  trans-shipping  port 
in  the  world,  especially  as  many  boats  suitable  for  the  Pacific 
Ocean  are  not  seaworthy  or  insurable  on  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

As  the  la\\^Trs  would  put  it,  what  you  have  been  saying 
is  testimony — give  us  some  evidence  of  what  a  free  port  or 
city  will  do  toward  creating  a  metropolis  of  half  a  million 
in  a  few  years.  Here  is  the  evidence :  Hamburg,  Germany ; 
Copenhagen,  Denmark;  Gibraltar;  Hong  Kong  (formerly 
Chinese,  now  British);  Singapore;  Punta  Arenas,  Chile; 
Aden-on-the-Red-Sea,  and  the  Island  of  Stj.  Thomas  near 
Porto  Rico. 

The  definition  of  a.  free  port  is:  ''A  harbor  where  the  ships 
of  all  nations  may  enter  on  paying  a  moderate  toll  and  load 
and  unload.  The  free  ports  constitute  great  depots  where 
goods  are  stored  without  paying  duty;  these  goods  may  be 
reshipped  free  of  duty.  The  intention  of  having  free  ports 
is  to  stimulate  and  facilitate  exchange  and  trade." 

V  free  city  is  a  city  or  zone  where  there  is  no  import  or 
export  duty  of  any  kind  on  goods  bought,  sold  or  consumed. 

After  Great  Britain  had  taken  Gibraltar  from  Spain,  and 
that  country  would  not  deal  with  Gibraltar,  the  Sultan  of 
Morocco  forced  the  British  government  in  1705,  to  make  a 
free  port  of  Gibraltar  by  refusing  to  supply  the  food  neces- 
sary to  maintain  the  fortress,  unless  all  import  and  export 
duty  was  taken  off.  The  law  of  necessity  caused  the  most 
powerful  government  in  the  world,  more  than  two  hundred 
years  ago,  to  establish  the  first  free  zone  on  a  little  rock 
pile  three  miles  long  by  one-half  mile  wide,  controlling  the 
entrance  to  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  Here  is  lesson  number 
1,  that  should  not  be  overlooked.  Today  there  is  a  popu- 
lation of  27,000  at  Gibraltar  and  over  4,000,000  ship  tonnage 


192  W.    D.    BOYCE 

cleared  yearly.  As  there  is  no  duty,  only  a  tax  on  tobacco 
and  liquors,  there  are  no  statistics  on  the  annual  business. 

Hamburg,  Germany,  is  a  notable  example  of  the  benefits 
of  free  exchange.  Hamburg,  through  this  wise  policy,  has 
become  the  greatest  port  in  Europe.  In  1888,  2500  acres 
of  the  harbor  of  this  inland  city  were  set  apart  as  a  free 
harbor,  where  ships  could  unload  and  load  without  custom 
duties.  A  gigantic  system  of  docks,  basins  and  quays  was 
constructed  at  an  initial  cost  of  S35,000,000,  which  at  pres- 
ent day  cost  would  be  double.  A  portion  of  the  old  town 
containing  24,000  people  was  cleared  to  make  room  for  this 
great  project.  Since  that  time  Hamburg  has  grown  enor- 
mously, reaching  the  third  position  as  a  port  in  the  world, 
and  today  has  over  1,000,000  population,  being  the  second 
largest  city  in  Germany.  Without  question  the  free  zone 
of  the  harbor  has  had  a  great  influence  on  the  expansion  of 
Hamburg  as  a  port. 

Copenhagen  is  the  most  important  commercial  town  of 
Denmark.  The  trading  facilities  were  greatly  augmented 
in  1894  by  making  a  portion  of  the  harbor  a  free  port.  It 
has  had  a  marked  effect  on  the  trade  of  Copenhagen  and 
Denmark. 

Hong  Kong  Island  and  City  is  a  British  possession  ac- 
quired from  China  in  1841.  Hong  Kong  is  a  free  port  and 
has  no  custom  house,  and  its  commercial  activities  are  chiefly 
distributive  for  a  large  portion  of  the  Far  East,  much  as  the 
Panama  Canal  Zone  would  become  if  made  a  free  port. 
The  only  commodity  that  pays  a  duty  at  Hong  Kong  is 
opium.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  it  is  a  free  port  official  fig- 
ures on  its  trade  cannot  be  had,  as  in  the  case  of  ports  that 
collect  custom  duties.  I  find  a  table  showing  the  clearing 
of  ships  from  Hong  Kong:  In  1880  the  total  tonnage  was 
8,359,994,  which  by  1911  had  grown  to  a  tonnage  of  23,063,- 
108 — or  nearly  200  per  cent  increase  in  thirty  years. 

Since  Hong  Kong  was  made  a  free  port  the  population 
has  increased  from  a  few  thousand  to  456,739.  From  this 
port  there  is  an  immense  exchange  of  commodities  between 
Great  Britain  and  her  colonies,  the  ports  of  China,  Japan 
and  the  United  States.    This  fact,  investigation  shows,  is 


MAKING   THE   CANAL   ZONE   A    FREE   CITY  193 

lai'gel}^  due  to  the  advantages  arising  from  the  fact  that  the 
port  of  Hong  Kong  is  free  from  custom  duties  to  all  nations. 
The  island  of  Hong  Kong  is  off  the  southeast  coast  of  China, 
from  which  it  is  separated  only  by  a  narrow  channel.  It 
is  75  miles  from  Canton. 

Admiral  Chadwick,  after  my  address  before  the  Southern 
Commercial  Congress,  wrote  me  he  heartily  approved  of 
the  plan,  and  that  we  could  build  another  Hong  Kong  on 
the  Panama  Canal  Zone. 

Singapore  is  another  good  example.  It  is  the  capital  of  the 
British  Straits  Settlements,  and  lies  about  midway  between 
Hong  Kong  and  Calcutta,  India,  and  close  to  the  Malay 
Archipelago.  It  is  less  than  100  miles  north  of  the  Equator, 
or  500  miles  farther  south  than  the  Panama  Canal  Zone. 
It  has  good  advantages  of  position,  but  above  all,  the  policy 
of  absolute  free  trade  has  made  Singapore  the  center  of  a 
trans-shipping  trade  that  is  surpassed  in  the  Orient  only  by 
Hong  Kong  and  one  or  two  of  the  great  Chinese  ports. 
The  continuously  rapid  growth  of  Singapore  and  the  Straits 
Settlements,  of  which  it  is  the  capital,  has  fully  demon- 
strated the  wisdom  of  this  policy.  In  1819  when  the  region 
was  ceded  to  Great  Britain  that  portion  of  the  country  had 
almost  no  business  or  population.  At  present  Singapore's 
free  exports  and  imports  exceed  $500,000,000  annually,  or 
about  one-seventh  of  the  total  imports  and  exports  of  the 
whole  United  States.  There  are  no  custom  duties  except 
on  opium.     The  population  is  about  275,000. 

The  number  of  vessels  clearing  in  1911  was  11,533,  with 
a  tonnage  of  15,455,476.  The  commodities  were  distributed 
between  India,  China,  Japan,  England,  the  United  States 
and  other  countries.  Neither  Hong  Kong  nor  Singapore  is 
as  well  situated  for  international  trade  or  enjoys  as  good 
and  healthful  climate  as  the  Panama  Canal  Zone.  We  have 
had  5000  white  men,  women  and  children  on  the  Paiiama 
Canal  Zone  for  the  past  seven  years,  and  the  death  rate  is 
less  than  that  of  any  big  .Vmerican  city. 

Port  Said  is  a  case  in  point.  The  building  of  the  Suez 
Canal  created  the  city  of  Port  Said  on  a  sandpile  at  the 
entrance  to  the  Canal  from  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  with 


194  W.    D.    BOYCE 

fresh  water  125  miles  away.  It  is  about  the  "hvest  wire" 
of  any  city  in  the  world — at  least  that  I  have  ever  visited. 
tt  has  over  100,000  population,  and  except  for  an  Eg3^tiaii 
duty  on  many  articles  would  be  a  great  trading  center  for 
others  than  tourists. 

Aden,  situated  on  a  strip  of  British  territory  in  Arabia, 
on  the  Red  Sea,  where  nothing  grows  and  fresh  water  must 
be  brought  a  long  distance,  has  50,000  population  on  ac- 
count of  its  being  a  free  port  and  city. 

Punta  Arenas,  Chile,  on  the  Straits  of  Magellan,  the  far- 
thest south  of  any  city  in  the  world,  is  a  free  port  and  city, 
and  has  a  population  of  15,000.  I  was  surprised  at  its  im- 
portance and  its  fine  stone  buildings  and  good  streets.  The 
only  local  support  of  Punta  Arenas  is  wool  and  sheep,  mostly 
from  the  old  Patagonia  country  of  Argentina  and  the  Island 
of  Tierra  del  Fuego.  Evidently  its  importance  arises  chiefly 
from  its  being  a  free  city  and  free  port. 

The  free  exchange  of  commodities,  on  account  of  there 
being  no  duty,  import  or  export,  put  the  Island  of  St. 
Thomas,  near  Porto  Rico,  belonging  to  Denmark,  on  the 
map.  It  is  a  good  example  of  what  no  export  or  import 
duty  will  do  for  a  poor,  out-of-the-way  island.  Nearly  every 
excursion  to  the  West  Indies  docks  there  to  trade.  Its  one 
port  carries  the  largest  stock  and  does  the  greatest  Panama 
hat  trade  in  the  world.  Alany  vessels  coal  there.  It  has 
a  great  trade  with  all  the  West  India  Islands. 

England  has  tried  out  the  free  port  and  free  city  idea 
thoroughly  and  this  is  what  the  Encyclopedia  Britannica 
says: 

In  countries  where  custom  duties  are  levied,  if  an  extension  of 
foregin  trade  is  desired,  special  facilities  must  be  granted  for  this 
purpose.  In  view  of  this  a  free  zone  sufficiently  large  for  com- 
mercial purposes  must  be  set  aside.  English  colonial  free  ports, 
such  as  Hong  Kong  and  Singapore,  do  not  interfere  with  the  regu- 
lar home  customs  of  India  and  China.  These  two  free  harbors 
have  become  great  shipping  ports  and  distributing  centers.  The 
policy  which  led  to  their  establishment  as  free  ports  has  greatly 
promoted  British  commercial  interests. 

The  reason  I  have  brought  this  question  up  is  because  I 
believe  it  the  paramount  one  in  the  development  of  our 


MAKING   THE   CANAL   ZONE   A   FREE   CITY  195 

commercial  relationship  with  South  America,  and  that  it 
will  make  the  Panama  Canal  pay.  If  we  do  not  act  soon 
some  other  country  owning  one  of  the  West  India  Islands, 
well  located  to  trade  with  ships  passing  through  the  Canal, 
will  take  advantage  of  the  situation.  The  Panama  Republic 
intends  now  to  benefit  from  our  investment  in  the  Canal  by 
creating  a  free  city  bordering  on  the  Zone. 

How  TO  Secure  and  Retain  South  American  Trade 

1.  Make  the  goods  the  market  requires;  manufacture, 
pack,  measure  and  invoice  everything  the  way  the  South 
American  people  want  it. 

2.  Build  a  large  commercial  city  on  the  Panama  Canal 
Zone  and  get  as  many  merchants  as  possible  from  all  over 
South  America  to  visit,  locate  branch  houses  and  buy  goods 
there.  They  will  not  come  to  the  United  States;  they  do 
not  speak  English — they  do  not  feel  at  home,  but  will  be 
at  ease  in  a  city  in  a  Latin  country  where  Spanish  will  pre- 
vail and  every  language  in  the  world  is  spoken. 

3.  Establish  agencies  at  the  capital  of  each  republic  and 
its  chief  seaport  towns.  Put  in  charge  young  unmarried 
men  from  the  United  States  who  can  speak,  or  would  soon 
learn,  Spanish,  and  who  would  marry  into  the  good  families 
of  the  country.  Their  future  will  be  secure  and  your  trade 
also.     This  plan  is  followed  by  all  other  countries. 

4.  Work  at  home  in  every  honorable  way  to  secure  a 
merchant  marine  that  flies  the  Stars  and  Stripes.  How  can 
you  expect  South  America  to  think  of  trading  with  us  when 
they  never  see  a  ship  from  this  country?  I  covered  40,000 
miles  in  visiting  South  America  and  never  saw  our  flag  on 
a  North  American  merchant  ship. 

5.  Price  your  goods  in  the  money  of  the  country  in  which 
you  ofi'er  them  so  they  will  understand  your  price  and  what 
they  are  paying.  Be  prepared  to  give  as  good  terms,  credit 
and  prices  as  your  competitor  from  Europe.  Take  your 
pay  in  drafts  on  London,  Paris  or  Berlin,  and  stand  the  loss 
in  exchange  into  Uncle  Sam's  dollars,  or  better  still,  keep 
agitating  the  question  of  a  chain  of  United  States  banks 


1%  W.    D.    BOYCE 

through  South  America — for  there  are  none — even  if  our 
Government  finds  it  necessary  to  go  into  the  banking  busi- 
ness in  foreign  countries  to  extend  and  protect  our  trade,  as 
well  as  visitors  from  the  United  States  of  North  America. 
This  is  too  large  a  question  for  me,  but  it  is  more  necessary 
for  us  to  have  banks  in  South  America  than  in  China,  as 
all  our  bills  of  exchange  in  the  Far  East  naturally  come 
through  Europe,  anyhow. 

6.  Estabhsh  confidence  in  our  honesty  and  friendliness. 
The  people  of  South  .America  have  been  lied  to  about  the 
United  States  by  every  European  salesman  for  a  century. 
They  all  know  the  story  of  the  wooden  nutmeg.  They 
nearly  all  believe  that  the  Monroe  Doctrine  simply  means 
that  we  are  keeping  their  country  for  ourselves  until  we  are 
ready  to  take  it  over,  etc.  We  tell  them  we  do  not  want 
their  country,  and  they  say  how  about  Porto  Rico,  Panama 
Canal  Zone,  and  the  Philippines? 

7.  Do  business  everlastingly  on  the  square.  They  are  not 
used  to  it,  but  will  like  it  once  they  find  it  genuine. 

8.  Teach  Spanish  in  all  our  schools.  We  must  do  busi- 
ness with  South  America,  Central  .America,  the  West  India 
Islands,  and  the  Philippines,  in  Spanish. 

With  the  highest  appreciation  of  the  honor  you  have 
conferred  upon  me,  and  hoping  and  believing  in  a  greater 
nation  and  closer  relationship  with  South  and  Central  Amer- 
ica through  making  a  free  port  and  city  out  of  the  Panama 
Canal  Zone,  I  thank  you. 


SOME  ECONOMIC  FACTS  AND  CONCLUSIONS 
ABOUT  SOUTH  AMERICA 

By  Selden  0.  Martin,  Ph.D.,  Graduate  School  of  Business 
Administration,  Harvard  University 

In  preparation  for  the  course  now  being  given  by  the 
Graduate  School  of  Business  Administration  of  Harvard 
University  upon  the  Economic  Resources  and  Commercial 
Organization  of  Latin  America  I  was  sent  to  South  America 
in  October,  1910,  to  travel,  to  observe,  and  to  interview. 
The  object  was  to  see  the  people;  to  see  natural  economic 
conditions  such  as  climate,  resources,  products;  and  human 
economic  conditions  such  as  transportation  facilities,  in- 
dustrial development,  currency,  banking;  to  see  the  goods 
that  were  being  handled — for  example,  through  how  many 
middlemen  between  the  countries,  how  many  within  the 
country;  and  to  see  changes  that  might  be  evident  as  taking 
place  in  the  organization  of  the  foreign  and  domestic  trade. 

Evidently'  this  was  a  considerable  subject  or  group  of 
subjects.  Of  necessity  in  the  time  allowed  it  could  be  cov- 
ered only  superficially.  Avowedly  it  was  so  planned.  Only 
the  main  points  could  be  touched  upon.  An  economic  per- 
spective of  South  America  that  was  approximately  correct 
was  sought  for.  With  the  frame  work  of  the  coiu'se  con- 
structed on  general  lines  that  were  according  to  fact,  it  was 
felt  that  many  additional  details  could  be  supplied  from  the 
material  continually  increasing  at  home,  from  current  re- 
ports and  from  correspondence. 

The  trip  lasted  a  trifle  over  a  year,  and  amounted  to  some 
26,000  miles  of  travel  in  every  country  in  South  .\merica, 
except  Venezuela  and  the  Cuianas.  The  Andes  were  crossed 
six  times  in  the  countries  of  Colombia,  Ecuador,  Peru, 
Bolivia,  and  Chile.  The  River  Plate  was  ascended  as  far 
as  Asuncion,  Paraguay.  In  Brazil,  the  coffee  country, 
the  coast  cities  and  the  mouth  of  the  Amazon  were  covered. 

1»7 


198  SELDEN   O.    MARTIN 

The  course  on  Latin  America  in  the  Graduate  School  of 
Business  Administration  of  Harvard  University,  of  which 
much  the  largest  part  is  devoted  to  South  America,  has 
now  been  given  for  five  years.  Each  year  has  witnessed 
changes  and  additions  with  the  increase  of  reliable  informa- 
tion about  South  America.  This  sixth  year  will  witness 
further  changes  in  the  course,  but  no  reason  has  been  seen 
yet  for  changing  certain  fundamental  economic  concepts 
about  South  America. 

In  the  time  allotted  for  this  paper  I  should  like  to  give 
you  what  seem  to  me  to  be  important  economic  facts  about 
South  America  and  to  present  some  economic  conclusions 
which  can  be  fairly  arrived  at  in  the  light  of  present  knowl- 
edge. These  facts  may  be  classified  as  physical  facts,  facts 
about  the  population,  facts  about  trade. 

Physical  Facts 

First  I  should  like  to  call  your  attention  to  certain  physi- 
cal features  of  South  America  which  I  beUeve  are  funda- 
mental to  a  correct  estimate  of  its  possibilities. 

South  America  is  a  century  older  historically  than  North 
America.  The  Spanish  and  Portuguese  had  permanent 
settlements  in  South  America  before  Captain  John  Smith 
was  bom,  yet  South  America  today,  with  an  area  equal  to 
that  of  the  United  States  and  Canada  combined,  has  a  popu- 
lation scarcely  one-half  that  of  the  United  States  alone. 
Why?  There  are,  of  course,  weighty  reasons,  poHtical  and 
racial,  and  the  important  economic  reason  of  geographic 
remoteness.     But  these  are  not  all  the  reasons. 

One  of  the  most  eminent  authorities  upon  the  geography 
of  South  America  has  said  that  Nature  must  have  been  in 
her  kindliest  mood  when  she  created  North  America,  but 
not  when  she  created  South  America.  It  was  not  until 
after  my  return  from  South  America  that  I  read  this  sentence 
and  was  struck  by  its  pregnancy. 


ECONOMIC    FACTS   ABOUT  SOUTH   AMERICA  199 

Climate 

The  map  of  the  western  hemisphere  shows  at  once  an  im- 
portant physical  fact  about  South  America.  Both  conti- 
nents have  a  broad  bulge  in  the  north,  tapering  to  a  point 
in  the  south,  hut  North  America  bulges  in  the  temperate 
zone  while  South  America  bulges  in  the  tropics.  In  other 
words,  four-fifths  of  South  America  is  in  the  tropics.  Now 
the  tropics  do  not  necessarily  connote  snakes  and  jungles 
and  disease.  After  seven  months'  residence  in  the  tropical 
regions  of  the  north,  west,  and  east  coasts  of  South  America 
I  can  testify  to  the  altitude  and  trade  winds  providing  many 
habitable  and  even  delightful  spots  within  those  tropics  in 
Colombia,  Ecuador,  Peru,  Northern  Chile,  Paraguay,  and 
Brazil.  Modern  medical  science  and  skill  is  removing  the 
obstacle  of  tropical  disease,  but  the  fact  still  remains  that 
there  are  tremendous  areas  in  South  America  east  of  the 
Andes  and  north  of  the  Pilcomayo  where  there  is  an  average 
temperature  of  more  than  70°  F.  and  an  average  rainfall  of 
more  than  100  inches  (40  is  considerable) — regions  where 
the  tropical  forest  and  undergrowth  have  to  be  combated 
continually  with  steel  and  acid  spray. 

Such  conditions  of  climate  and  conditions  that  accompany 
such  climate  have  not  so  far  been  hospitable  for  the  Cauca- 
sian stock  which  up  to  this  time  has  shown  itself,  in  material 
affairs  at  least,  the  most  progressive  racial  element  of  the 
globe.  And  it  is  significant  to  note  in  this  connection  that 
the  country  in  South  America  which  is  most  progressive  and 
whose  trade  is  over  one  third  of  that  of  the  entire  continent, 
although  having  scarcely  a  seventh  of  the  population  or 
area,  is  that  country  occupying  the  most  of  that  narrow, 
tapering  end  of  South  .\merica  extending  into  the  temper- 
ate zone — namely  Argentina,  where  conditions  are  most 
like  those  of  North  America.  Nature  has  not  been  kindly 
to  South  America  on  the  whole,  from  our  point  of  view,  in 
the  climate  she  has  given  her. 


200  SELDEN   O.    .MARTIN 

Transportation  Conditions  fl 

In  her  gift  of  transportation  conditions  Xature  has  been 
much  more  kindly  to  North  America  than  to  South  America. 
In  North  iVmerica  the  mountains  on  the  whole  have  been 
low  lying,  and  comparatively  easy  of  passage,  or,  where 
high,  have  been  reduced  by  long  gently  sloping  plateaus,  as 
from  western  Nebraska  to  the  Rockies.  South  America, 
on  the  other  hand,  has  a  mountain  system  which  hardly 
with  design  could  have  been  made  more  of  an  obstacle  to 
cheap  transportation  from  coast  to  coast,  or  from  an}'-  dis- 
tance in  the  interior  of  the  west  coast  to  its  ports.  There 
is  one  stretch  of  the  Andes  that  for  over  thirty  degrees  of 
latitude,  or  2000  miles,  has  not  a  pass  under  12,000  feet 
altitude,  except  that  of  the  trans-Andean  between  .Argen- 
tine and  Chile,  where  a  long  tunnel  has  reduced  the  pass  to 
under  11,000  feet  altitude;  but  this  railroad  has  fifteen 
miles  of  cog-rail,  and  is  not  a  freight  road  but  a  mail,  express 
and  passenger  road. 

These  western  ranges  rise  abruptly  from  the  coast  or  near 
the  coast,  with  practically  no  alleviating  slopes  to  lengthen 
out  and  lessen  the  steep  climbs  to  the  divide.  Cog-roads, 
switch-backs,  3  and  4  per  cent  grades,  are  the  rule  on  the 
west  coast,  with  the  exception  of  southern  Chile.  One 
range  such  as  the  Andes  makes  an  ample  transportation 
problem,  but  throughout  most  of  their  length  they  are  a 
double  range,  and  in  Colombia  they  are  triple,  almost  a 
quadruple  range.  These  parallel  ranges  are  such  as  fre- 
quently to  double  and  triple  the  through  transportation 
problem,  almost  as  much  as  if  one  range  were  piled  upon 
the  other. 

The  Andes  are  the  greatest  single  fact  in  South  America. 
Not  only  do  they  form  the  transportation  barrier  that  they 
do,  but  they  have  much  to  do  with  the  climatic  conditions. 
They  are  responsible  for  the  west  coast  throughout  Peru, 
and  the  northern  third  of  Chile,  some  1500  miles  in  extent, 
being  gray  and  barren  and  dependent  upon  irrigation  for 
the  vegetation  it  has.  The  Andes,  again,  as  they  turn  back 
the  humid  winds  from  their  cold  sides,  are  responsible  for 


ECONOMIC    FACTS   ABOUT   SOUTH    AMERICA  201 

much  of  the  country  on  their  eastern  slopes  and  beyond, 
being  drenched  with  excessive  and  torrential  rains. 

Even  the  much  lesser  ranges  of  the  east  coast  have  been 
placed  with  irritating  perversity  from  an  economic  stand- 
point. In  Brazil,  for  example,  the  mountains,  although  not 
averaging  over  3000  feet  in  altitude,  are  peculiarly  abrupt 
at  the  very  edge  of  the  coast.  No  railroad,  English  or  Bra- 
zilian, has  succeeded  in  getting  an  economical  freight  grade 
over  them.  As  far  north  as  Bahia  they  form  a  veritable 
screen,  shutting  off  the  interior  and  rendering  much  more 
diflicult  the  opening  up,  for  example,  of  the  tremendous 
iron  deposits  of  ]\Iinas  Geraes.  In  Argentina  again  alone, 
do  we  find  ideal  conditions  for  land  transportation  corre- 
sponding to  those  of  our  own  prairie  states. 

It  is  true  that  South  America  is  gifted  with  a  wonderful 
river  system.  Two  of  her  rivers,  the  Amazon  and  the  Plate, 
are  greater  than  our  own  Mississippi,  and  navigable  for  a  far 
greater  length  because  of  their  slight  gradient  and  the  heavy 
rainfall  at  their  headwaters.  There  is  also  a  physical  possi- 
bility of  efTective  canalization  to  connect  the  Orinoco, 
Amazon,  and  Plate  Systems,  should  such  canahzation  be 
sufficiently  desired.  These  rivers  give  access,  however, 
to  the  tropical  basin  already  noted.  That  same  shght 
gradient  indicates  a  basin  still  unsufficiently  developed  geo- 
logically so  that  a  large  portion  of  it  is  submerged  or  subject 
to  submergence  at  times. 

Lack  of  Coal 

Perhaps  where  Nature  has  been  least  kindly  of  all  to 
South  America  is  in  denying  her  adequate  deposits  of  coal. 
Although  coal  is  mined  at  various  points  it  is  of  inferior 
quality,  and  South  America  today  is  essentially  a  coal  im- 
porting country.  Chile,  the  greatest  coal  producing  coun- 
try of  South  America,  imports  half  of  its  supply  from  the 
British  Isles  and  .Vustralia.  Cardiff  coal,  for  the  Bolivian 
railroads,  is  taken  up  over  the  .Vndes,  reaching  a  cost  of  some 
$40  per  ton  at  its  final  destination.  English  coal  at  La 
Guaira,  Venezuela,  one  of  the  nearest  ports  of  South  .\mer- 
ica,  costs  $12  per  ton  on  the  dock.     Coal  has  to  be  brought 


202  SELDEN   O.    MARTIN 

over  the  seas  for  the  iron  deposits  of  Brazil.  This,  together 
with  the  coastal  grades  already  referred  to,  have  neutralized 
to  a  large  degree  the  exceeding  richness  of  that  iron  ore. 
Norfolk  coal,  from  the  United  States,  is  beginning  to  enter 
Brazil  and  the  Plate.  South  American  railroads  have  spent 
thousands  of  dollars  prospecting  for  coal  of  good  quality  and 
commercially  accessible.  Up  to  the  present  time  their 
efforts  have  not  been  successful. 

Water  power  there  is  on  the  west  coast  and  especially  in 
Brazil.  The  cities  of  Lima,  Peru,  and  La  Paz,  Bohvia,  Rio 
Janeiro,  and  Sao  Paulo,  Brazil,  have  their  public  service  cor- 
porations supplied  with  hydro-electric  power,  and  the  end 
of  the  railroad  descending  into  La  Paz  has  been  electrified. 
Just  how  much  water  power  there  is  on  the  west  coast,  how 
constant  it  is,  just  how  harmoniously  it  can  be  operated  in 
competition  with  the  use  of  water  for  irrigation,  which  is 
always  a  superior  use,  is  decidedly  conjectural. 

In  Brazil,  in  the  drainage  basin  of  the  Parand,  there  are 
undoubtedly  hundreds  of  thousands  of  horsepower  of  water 
power.  But  the  fundamental  difficulty  in  the  development 
and  employment  of  water  power  is  the  necessity  of  a  large 
fixed  capital  investment  at  the  very  beginning.  It  cannot 
have  the  gradual  increase  in  capacity,  horsepower  by  horse- 
power from  ton  by  ton,  as  in  the  case  of  energy  derived  from 
coal.  Consequently,  a  large  market  for  the  power  from 
water  power  is  needed  at  the  outset.  With  few  exceptions 
there  are  not  markets  in  South  America  yet  for  large  blocks 
of  power.  Petroleum  produced  in  northern  Peru  and  more 
recently  in  northern  Argentina  is  increasing,  but  the  posi- 
tion of  importance  of  coal  and  petroleum  in  the  import 
statistics  of  South  American  countries  still  remains  most 
significant. 

My  strokes  have  been  few  and  broad.  Many  exceptions 
in  detail  could  be  cited — Argentina  has  already  been  men- 
tioned. In  general,  the  strokes  have  been  accurate,  in  por- 
traying South  America  as  not  nearly  the  country  naturally 
for  economic  development  that  North  America  is.  In 
climate,  in  topography,  in  power  supply.  Nature  has  dealt 
much  more  kindly  by  us  than  by  our  southern  sister. 


economic  facts  about  south  america  203 

Facts  About  the  Population 

Let  us  now  turn,  and  even  more  briefly,  to  a  feature  which 
happily  is  much  more  dynamic,  much  more  subject  to  change 
than  those  physical  features  which  we  have  just  considered. 
I  refer  to  the  population.  As  you  know,  the  population  of 
South  America  is  much  mixed,  being  of  three  distinct  ra- 
cial stocks — the  native  stock,  which  here  it  will  suffice  to 
call  Indians,  although  of  many  different  strains  and  quali- 
ties; the  European,  originally  from  Spain  and  Portugal, 
and  more  recently  from  those  same  countries  again,  and 
from  Italy  and  Germany  as  well;  the  negro,  brought  in  by 
the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  as  slaves,  but  now  long  since 
freed  and  mixing  with  the  other  racial  stocks. 

The  proportions  in  which  these  stocks  make  up  the  popu- 
lation of  the  various  countries  vary  greatly.  In  general, 
it  will  be  found  that  in  tropical,  hot  and  humid  lowlands 
(tierras  calientes),  the  negro  strain  is  prominent,  and  as  the 
higher  lands  are  reached  the  Indian  and  European  strains 
increase,  and  in  the  temperate  regions,  to  the  south,  the  Euro- 
pean decidedly  predominates.  In  the  northern  part  of  the 
continent,  Colombia,  Venezuela,  Ecuador,  and  northern 
Brazil,  the  mulatto  (black  and  white),  mestizo  (red  and 
white),  and  zambo  (red  and  black),  are  much  in  evidence. 
In  Peru  and  Bolivia  probably  50  per  cent  of  the  population 
is  pure  Indian,  and  a  large  portion  of  the  balance  mestizo. 
In  Argentina  it  is  probable  that  over  four-fifths,  and  very 
likely  nine-tenths,  are  of  pure  European  stock. 

Much  of  the  Indian  population  of  South  America  is  of  a 
type  far  different  from  our  own.  Of  a  considerable  degree 
of  civilization,  when  the  Spanish  came,  and  of  an  indus- 
trious and  faithful  nature  capable  of  development,  the  In- 
dians of  Peru,  for  example,  have  been  called  Peru's  greatest 
single  asset.  The  railroads,  mines,  and  other  industries  could 
not  be  at  present  operated  without  them.  In  Bolivia  and 
Chile,  Indians  of  a  sterner  fibre  were  encountered  by  the 
Spanish,  which  has  resulted  in  a  virile  mestizo  population. 

With  this  as  a  preliminary  statement  regarding  the  popu- 
lation in  general  it  is  possible  to  make  some  generalizations. 


204  SELDEN   O.   MARTIN 

First,  in  regard  to  the  social  stratification.  The  observant 
traveler  is  struck  by  the  lack  of  a  middle  class.  There  is  an 
upper  stratum  of  population  amounting  to  approximately 
some  2  or  3  per  cent  of  cultured  people  most  delightful  to 
meet,  who  have  traveled  much  abroad  and  have  usually 
been  educated  abroad,  and  then  there  is  an  abrupt  descent 
to  a  class  that  is,  on  the  whole,  and  according  to  our  stand- 
ards, backward  and  illiterate.  This  upper  stratum  of  popu- 
lation is  usually  concentrated  in  the  cities,  and  especially 
in  the  capitals,  so  that  the  cities  and  capitals  of  South  Amer- 
ica are  by  no  means  fair  criteria  of  the  countries  of  South 
America.  For  example,  on  the  west  coast  the  cities  of  Lima, 
La  Paz,  and  Santiago  would  give  one  who  had  sojourned 
only  in  them  an  incorrect  idea  of  the  stage  of  development 
of  those  countries.  There  are  shop  windows  and  streets  in 
Lima  that  will  compare  with  those  of  any  city  in  Europe  or 
in  the  United  States.  The  electric  traction  service  between 
Lima  and  its  port,  Callao,  is  most  modern  and  adequate. 
It  is  not  until  one  has  been  into  the  back  country  of  Peru 
and  seen  the  high  proportion  of  Indian  population  and  the 
conditions  in  which  that  population  is  living  that  one  can 
judge  the  development  of  Peru  more  fairly. 

This  state  of  the  population  has  been  reflected  in  political 
conditions.  Governments  have  not  been  representative  as 
we  understand  that  word.  This  does  not  necessarily  mean 
that  the  rules  of  these  unrepresentative  rulers  have  always 
been  beneficial.  In  Chile  it  has  long  been  said  that  a  hun- 
dred families  were  the  government,  but,  on  the  whole,  Chile 
has  progressed  under  this  oligarchical  sway.  Though  it  may 
be  true  that  through  the  government  ownership  of  the  rail- 
roads they  have  made  themselves  low  freight  rates,  it  is  also 
true  that  for  the  rest  of  the  population  they  have  established 
low  passenger  rates,  for  example,  of  about  1  cent  a  mile. 
Another  country  could  be  cited  by  name,  the  government 
of  which,  it  is  pretty  well  known,  is  under  the  domination  of 
one  man,  yet  he  is  an  able  man,  and  under  him  the  country 
is  forging  ahead.  But,  happily,  these  conditions  are  steadily 
changing  for  the  better,  as  the  character  of  the  popula- 


ECONOMIC    FACTS   ABOUT  SOUTH    AMERICA  205 

tiori  clmnges.  In  Argentina  the  rise  of  a  middle  class  has 
been  reflected  in  improvements  in  the  laws  and  execution 
of  the  laws  within  the  last  two  years.  A  large  proportion 
of  the  population  there  has  laid  its  economic  foundation  and 
is  now  demanding  and  exercising  its  proper  share  in  the  gov- 
ernment. This  same  holds  true,  in  some  degree,  in  the  coun- 
tries of  Chile,  Urugua}',  southern  Brazil,  and  Peru — once 
more  it  will  be  noticed  in  that  section  of  South  America  that 
lies  in  the  temperate  zone,  or  in  a  temperate  climate. 

Another  singular  characteristic  of  the  population  of  South 
America  is  that  despite  its  being  a  continent  that  is  agricul- 
tural and  extractive,  and  not  industrial,  the  population  is 
yet  remarkably  concentrated.  For  example,  20  per  cent  of 
the  population  of  Argentina  is  in  the  city  of  Buenos  Aires 
alone,  and  four  other  cities  of  .Argentina  contain  5  per  cent 
more  of  the  entire  population,  and  yet  Argentina  is  essen- 
tially a  grazing  and  agricultural  country.  One-third  of  the 
population  of  Uruguay  is  in  the  city  of  ]Montivideo,  and  Uru- 
guay is  essentially  a  grazing  and  agricultural  country.  In 
Paraguay,  12  per  cent  of  the  population  is  in  the  city  of 
Asuncion.  In  Chile,  primarily  a  mining  and  agricultural 
country,  five  cities  have  over  20  per  cent  of  the  population. 
In  the  other  countries  of  South  America  the  concentration 
of  population  is  less  marked,  but  still  considerably  more 
than  would  be  normally  expected  of  an  extractive  and  agri- 
cultural country.  In  the  United  States,  much  more  of  an 
industrial  nation,  but  26  per  cent  of  the  population  is  in 
cities  of  50,000  and  over.  Furthermore,  if  a  map  of  South 
America  were  constructed  to  show  the  location  of  the  pop- 
ulation, it  would  be  found  to  be  concentrated  all  around  the 
border  of  the  continent.  If  you  can  imagine  a  triangular 
shaped  bowl,  the  location  of  the  population  would  be  rep- 
resented by  dots  all  around  the  rim.  The  great  central 
basin  is  practically  uninhabited.  The  cities  of  Iquitos  and 
Manaos,  upon  the  Amazon,  might  seem  an  exception,  but 
they  are  really  outposts  for  the  collection  of  rubber. 

It  is  no  disrespect  to  any  South  American  country,  whom 
in  some  of  their  ways  we  could  copy  with  profit,  to  say  thai 


206  SELDEN   O.   MARTIN 

South  America,  as  at  present  inhabited,  is  but  a  shell.  There 
is  no  back  country.  One  is  struck  by  this  in  riding  out  from 
any  large  center  of  population.  The  inhabited  area  drops 
off  suddenly  unto  the  uninhabited. 

Facts  About  Trade 

In  the  light  of  the  preceding  physical  facts  and  facts  about 
the  population  of  South  America  we  now  approach  some 
surprising  facts  about  its  trade.  South  America,  with 
about  forty-eight  or  fifty  millions  of  inhabitants,  or  about 
one-fifteenth  that  of  Asia,  has  a  much  greater  foreign  trade 
than  Asia.  This  is  due  to  two  reasons.  In  the  first  place, 
South  America  has  certain  products  which  the  world  wants 
very  much,  and  in  the  supplying  of  which  it  has  a  monopoly 
to  a  greater  or  less  degree.  The  most  important  products 
are  coffee,  rubber,  nitrate,  cocoa.  And  in  the  Plate  region 
it  has  great  natural  advantages  for  producing  cereals  and 
meat,  which  the  growing  population  of  the  world  demands 
more  and  more.  And  in  the  second  place,  South  America, 
in  its  present  stage  of  development,  does  not  provide  for  it- 
self many  of  the  products  that  it  consumes,  but  exchanges 
its  own  products  for  them,  which  extends  to  the  degree  even 
of  importing  many  food  stuffs. 

The  total  trade  of  South  America  amounts  to  about 
$1,800,000,000,  of  which  roughly  $950,000,000,  or  53  per 
cent  are  exports,  and  $850,000,000,  or  47  per  cent  imports. 
In  this  foreign  trade  the  following  countries  are  interested: 
Great  Britain  leads  with  27  per  cent  to  28  per  cent ;  Germany 
is  second  with  18  per  cent  to  17  per  cent;  United  States  is 
third,  and  very  close  to  second,  with  17  per  cent  to  18  per 
cent  (depending  on  its  imports  of  coffee  as  to  whether  it 
will  exceed  Germany  or  not  by  one  per  cent  or  so) ;  and 
France  is  fourth  with  8  per  cent  to  9  per  cent.  These  trade 
figures  are  for  the  continent  as  a  whole.  If  we  divide  the 
continent  into  its  natural  geographic  groups  of  the  north 
coast,  west  coast,  River  Plate,  and  Brazil,  we  find  the  United 
States  leading  in  the  north  coast  trade,  apparently  be- 
cause, of  its  geographic  proximity,  for  as  we  descend  to  Ecua- 


ECONOMIC   FACTS   ABOUT  SOUTH   AMERICA  207 

dor  we  find  the  United  Kingdom  rivaling  it  for  first  place, 
and  in  Peru  the  United  States  falls  to  second  place,  and  in 
Chile  and  Argentina  to  third.  Its  leading  position  in  Brazil 
is  due  to  its  large  imports  of  rubber  and  coffee,  rather  than 
to  its  exports  to  Brazil.  In  Argentina,  just  the  reverse  is 
sncountcred,  she  buying  much  more  from  us  than  we  from 
her,  which  constitutes  something  of  a  return  cargo  problem 
for  our  ships  from  her  ports.  Despite  the  idea  that  seems 
to  be  somewhat  current,  that  the  United  States  is  not  getting 
its  fair  share  of  South  American  trade,  when  one  considers 
the  heavy  capital  investment  of  other  countries,  and  es- 
pecially of  the  United  Kingdom,  and  also  considers  the  large 
Foreign  colonies  and  immigration,  especially  from  Germany 
and  Italy,  and  compares  these  facts  with  the  United  States 
capital  invested  and  United  States  population  resident  in 
South  America,  one  is  inclined  to  wonder  that  our  trade  is 
as  extensive  as  it  is.  In  the  last  ten  years  our  trade  has  in- 
creased greatly,  but  our  percentage  of  the  total  trade  has 
changed  but  little,  although  it  has  increased  somewhat. 
That  is  to  say,  the  proportional  importance  of  our  trade  to 
South  America,  as  compared  with  that  of  the  United  King- 
dom or  Germany  or  France,  has  changed  but  little.  But, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  importance  of  South  America's  trade 
to  us  has  increased  some  fifty  per  cent.  For  example,  taking 
three  year  averages,  the  importance  of  South  America  in 
our  total  foreign  trade  has  risen  from  6  per  cent  plus,  in  the 
last  decade,  to  9  per  cent  plus,  and  this  in  the  face  of  our 
rapidly  expanding  foreign  trade  to  all  parts  of  the  world. 
The  importance,  similarly,  of  South  American  trade  to  the 
United  Kingdom  is  about  9  per  cent,  to  Germany  8  per  cent, 
and  to  France  6  per  cent.  And  we  are  now  seeking  South 
American  trade  in  earnest  as  part  of  our  general  producing 
pressure  for  a  foreign  outlet.  Old  traditional  com])laints 
of  our  poor  packing  and  inferior  salesmen  are  now  nearly 
obsolete.  Our  credits  are  less  arbitrary  and  the  further  ex- 
tension of  credit  beyond  the  present  general  American  jiolicy 
of  ninety  days  sight  draft  would  be  of  extremely  doubtful 
advisability.  On  the  contrary,  our  example  seems  to  be 
reacting  somewhat  in  shortening  credits  in  general.     Our 


208  SELDEN   O.   MARTIN 

advertising  propaganda,  in  the  language  of  the  country,  is 
found  in  most  remote  sections,  illustrated  in  a  way  particu- 
larly pleasing  to  the  people.  German  salesmen  say  that 
our  advertising  is  far  superior  to  theirs  in  South  America. 
Our  diplomatic  and  consular  force  in  South  -Vmerica  is,  on 
the  whole,  without  much  doubt  the  best  and  is  so  regarded 
by  many  of  the  foreign  colonies  there.  Cuba  and  Mexico 
have  served  as  training  schools  for  our  salesmen  both  in  the 
language  and  customs  of  the  country.  South  American 
duties  have  been  distinctly  favorable  to  our  products,  since 
on  machinery  of  all  sorts,  agricultural,  mining,  railroad,  and 
auxiliary  supplies,  the  tariff  has  either  been  free,  or  nominal. 
In  such  commodities  as  these  lies  one  of  our  chief  advantages 
in  trade. 

To  increase  our  trade  with  South  America  it  has  been 
urged  that  there  be  established  an  American  line  of  freight 
steamers.  It  has  been  said  that  thus  only  could  proper 
service  be  supplied,  and  that  the  flag  in  itself  would  increase 
our  commercial  prestige.  This  is  not  the  place  for  a  lengthy 
argument  upon  shipping;  all  that  can  be  said  is  that  constant 
shippers  to  South  America  do  not  complain  of  inadequate 
service  or  of  unreasonable  rates.  Again,  the  sentiment  of 
the  flag  does  not  seem  to  enter  into  trade  vitally  since  France, 
which  is  perhaps  the  country  most  highly  regarded  in  sen- 
timent by  the  South  Americans,  is  distinctly  fourth  in  trade 
and  scarcely  holding  its  own,  although  it  has  a  subsidized 
French  shipping  line.  Ocean  freight  service  is  one  of  the 
most  flexible  services  in  the  world.  Tramp  steamers  come 
from  the  other  side  of  the  world  if  there  be  sufficient  demand 
for  them.  Under  present  conditions,  both  economic  and 
legal,  there  is  but  little  doubt  that  the  United  States  cannot 
construct  or  operate  shipping  lines  so  cheaply  as  Great 
Britain  or  Germany.  If  they  perform  transportation  ser- 
vice adequately  for  us,  and  more  cheaply,  it  would  seem 
that  we  may  well  continue  that  arrangement.  It  is  begin- 
ning to  look,  however,  as  if  very  shortly  we  should  be  able  to 
compete  with  them  in  both  the  construction  and  naviga- 
tion of  ocean-going  boats,  without  the  aid  of  any  sub- 
vention. 


ECONOMIC   FACTS   ABOUT  SOUTH   AMERICA  209 

As  to  the  establishment  of  an  American  bank,  it  does 
look  as  if  our  trade  had  reached  the  point  where  an  institu- 
tion, owned  and  directed  by  Americans,  to  furnish  exchange 
and  credit  information  and  to  give  other  financial  assistance 
to  Americans,  is  warranted.  Great  Britain  and  Germany 
each  have  several  banks  in  South  America,  and  France, 
Italy,  and  Spain  have  each  a  bank  there.  So  far  as  can  be 
learned  all  these  banks  have  paid  well.  It  also  appears  as 
if  the  argument  for  greater  prestige  applied  more  forcibly 
to  the  establishment  of  a  bank  than  to  the  subsidizing  of  a 
shipping  line.  Those  trading  with  South  America,  however, 
say  that  the  foreign  banks,  through  their  New  York  agen- 
cies, give  adequate  and  reasonable  banking  service.  One 
of  our  greatest  banks  has  been  looking  into  the  subject  care- 
fully but  what  action  it  is  to  take  toward  estabhshing  an 
American  bank  in  South  America  is  not  yet  publicly  known. 

It  has  seemed  to  me  as  if  a  much  more  influential  step 
toward  building  up  our  trade  in  South  America  would  be 
the  establishment  of  an  .\merican  department  store  in  the 
city  of  Buenos  Aires,  at  least,  and  probably  better  in  the 
cities  also  of  Rio  Janeiro,  Santiago,  and  Lima.  In  my  own 
experience  with  retail  stores  in  South  America  I  was  im- 
pressed by  the  lack  of  display  given  to  American  goods, 
even  in  articles  in  which  our  ascendency  was  acknowledged, 
such  as  firearms  and  some  kinds  of  hardware.  This,  I  am 
inclined  to  think,  is  chiefly  due  to  the  stores  being  affiliated 
with  other  nationalities.  The  leading  department  store  in 
South  America  is  in  Buenos  Aires,  and  is  owned  and  operated 
by  French  capital.  The  people  of  Buenos  Aii-es  are  highly 
delighted  with  it,  and  it  is  an  excellent  store,  but  it  does  not 
compare  with  department  stores  in  the  United  States  of  the 
same  grade.  It  seems  to  me  that  an  association  of  American 
exporters,  actual  and  prospective,  might  well  consider  or- 
ganizing a  department  store  company  for  the  purpose  of 
displaying  American  goods  in  South  America,  and  even- 
tually for  profit.  Such  a  department  store  would  display 
the  goods  in  which  we  have  an  advantage  and  import  other 
goods  just  the  same  as  our  department  stores  in  this  country 
import  goods  from  Europe  and  elsewhere  for  their  trade. 


210  SELDEN   O.    MARTIN 


Some  Conclusions 


Now,  finally,  if  I  may  be  permitted,  I  should  like  to  draw 
some  conclusions  as  to  the  economic  and  consequent  trade 
possibilities  of  South  America.  The  role  of  prophet  has 
never  been  a  safe  one,  nevertheless  I  am  going  to  venture  a 
few  statements  about  the  continent  with  the  main  basis  of 
fact  for  my  deductions. 

As  has  been  stated  before,  South  America  divides  nat- 
urally into  the  geographic  groups  of  the  north  coast,  the 
Guianas,  Venezuela,  and  Colombia;  the  west  coast,  Ecua- 
dor, Peru,  Bolivia,  and  Chile;  and  the  east  coast,  which 
subdivides  into  the  River  Plate  (comprehending  Uruguay, 
Paraguay,  .Argentina),  and  Brazil. 

Taking  first  the  north  coast — in  Colombia  we  have  per- 
haps the  most  difficult  transportation  problem  in  any  por- 
tion of  South  America  because  not  only  do  we  have  the 
greatest  number  of  parallel  ranges  of  mountains  therein, 
already  refered  to,  but  also  the  main  arteries  of  water  trans- 
portation, namely  the  IMagdalena  and  the  Cauca,  are  both 
obstructed,  the  ]Magdelena  by  a  bar  at  its  mouth,  and  the 
Cauca  by  unnavigable  falls  near  its  point  of  discharge  into 
the  Magdalena.  This  necessitates  at  least  two  rail  trans- 
shipments of  goods  in  the  progress  of  their  transportation 
up  the  Magdalena  River  to  the  most  important  cities  of 
Colombia — Bogota  and  Medellin. 

On  the  west  coast,  in  Peru,  we  have  a  country  which,  al- 
though its  total  area  is  over  600,000  square  miles,  one-fxfth 
of  that  of  the  United  States,  yet  it  is  not  a  country  so  eco- 
nomically attractive  as  these  figures  would  indicate.  There 
again  the  parallel  ranges  of  the  Andes  have  shut  ofT  the  in- 
terior from  the  coast  and  affected  the  climate  radically. 
The  coastal  strip  of  Peru  averages  from  25  to  30  miles  only 
in  width,  and  is  absolutely  arid  and  barren,  irrigation  being 
required  for  any  vegetable  production.  An  American  com- 
pany, already  with  large  investments  in  Peru,  has  studied 
the  irrigation  possibihties  of  this  strip.  It  estimates  that 
with  1,500,000  acres  already  under  irrigation  it  is  possible 
to  increase  that  amount  of  irrigable  area  1,000,000  acres,  or 
to  a  total  of  2,500,000  acres. 


ECONOMIC   FACTS   ABOUT   SOUTH   AMERICA  211 

The  intermountaiii  region  of  Peru  is  between  these  two 
ranges  of  the  xVndes.  ^luch  of  it  is  so  high  as  to  limit  its 
agricultural  productivity.  Furthermore,  its  valleys  are 
long  and  narrow,  one  of  which,  for  example,  is  300  miles 
long,  by  about  one  mile  in  width,  presenting  a  most  difficult 
transportation  problem.  From  present  knowledge  it  can- 
not be  seen  how  this  intermountain  region  can  ever  support 
more  than  local  needs.  Finally,  there  is  a  third  and  much 
greater  portion  of  Peru,  to  the  west  of  the  Andes,  the  ]\Ion- 
tana.  Little  is  known  about  it  except  that  it  is  a  tropical 
forest  with  decidedly  excessive  rainfall,  giving  high  humid- 
ity. By  far  its  chief  commercial  product  today  is  rubber. 
The  position  of  wild  rubber  in  the  world's  market  is  being 
more  and  more  seriously  threatened  by  the  plantation  rubber 
from  the  East — Ceylon  and  the  ^lalayan  Straits.  Present 
figures  seem  to  indicate  clearly  that  the  ordinary  grades  of 
rubber  can  be  put  on  the  market  by  the  plantation  growers 
of  the  East  more  cheaply  than  the  wild  rubber  can  be  secur- 
ed in  Peru  and  Brazil. 

Peru,  at  present,  has  a  population  of  4,000,000  (no  one 
knows  exactly,  but  this  is  probably  the  best  estimate).  Its 
present  irrigated  area  is  1,500,000  acres,  which  can  possibly 
be  increased  two-thirds.  Peru  has  mineral  possibilities 
(it  already  has  one  of  the  greatest  copper  mines  of  the  world), 
but  mineral  production  alone  has  never  been  the  basis  of 
great  population.  Take,  for  example,  our  western  states. 
It  was  not  until  they  became  agricultural,  through  the  em- 
ployment of  irrigation,  that  the  population  increased. 

Peru  has  a  favorable  position,  geographically,  for  trade 
with  the  other  countries  of  the  west  coast,  and  its  commerce 
with  Chile  and  Ecuador  is  steadily  increasing.  This  geo- 
graphic advantage  might  aid  its  industrial  development, 
but  from  the  character  of  the  pojiuhition  I  should  much 
sooner  expect  this  development  in  Chile  than  in  Peru. 
Furthermore,  when  one  remembers  how  the  products  of  our 
own  country  and  Eurojie  are  being  carried  around  the  world, 
and  over  tariff  barriers,  one  need  not  expect  a  decided  in- 
dustrial development,  to  the  extent  of  competing  in  foreign 
trade,  in  either  of  these  countries  in  the  immediate  future. 


212  SELDEN   O.    MARTIN 

Without  attaching  any  special  significance  to  the  figure  it- 
self, but  merely  to  give  you  some  approximate  idea,  I  think 
now  that  I  am  an  optimistic  prophet  for  Peru  to  hazard  the 
estimate  of  its  present  population  of  4,000,000  sometime  in- 
creasing to  10,000,000. 

In  Chile,  which  has  almost  twice  the  trade  of  all  the  other 
countries  of  the  west  coast  put  together,  we  have  a  countr>' 
of  some  3000  miles  in  length,  averaging  only  90  miles  in 
width,  and  half  of  which  width,  nearly,  is  occupied  by  moun- 
tains. The  upper  third  of  Chile  is  as  barren  and  arid  as  the 
west  coast  of  Peru.  The  real  heart  of  Chile  is  in  the  central 
valley,  south  of  Santiago,  which  has  a  total  area  of  only 
about  18,000  square  miles.  In  this  upper  third  of  Chile,  as 
barren  as  it  is,  has  lain  the  greatest  source  of  its  revenue  and 
prosperity — namely,  the  deposits  of  nitrate,  which  have 
been  the  basis  of  the  saltpeter  supply  for  the  use  of  that 
article  in  a  score  of  manufactured  products  the  world  over. 
This  nitrate  is  now  in  danger  of  competition  from  artificial 
nitrate  to  a  commercial  degree.  It  is  already  being  pro- 
duced in  experimental  quantities. 

Chile  has  today  barely  3,000,000  population.  Its  total 
population  has  increased  but  little,  although  its  cities  have 
increased  somewhat.  The  copper  possibilities  of  Chile  have 
been  increased  by  the  construction  of  the  Longitudinal  Rail 
Road  to  the  north,  lessening  the  cost  of  transportation. 
The  18,000  square  miles  of  cultivated  land,  the  nitrate  beds 
— threatened  with  possible  competition — the  copper  mines, 
a  greater  initiative  on  the  part  of  the  population  than  that 
of  the  other  countries  of  the  west  coast  neutralized  somewhat 
by  greater  geographic  remoteness,  constitute  the  funda- 
mental basis  of  Chile's  future,  as  at  present  seen.  If  Chile's 
3,000,000  of  population  increase  to  6,000,000  Chile  is  to  be 
congratulated. 

Bolivia,  the  greatest  mineral  country  in  South  America, 
has  a  transportation  problem  on  every  side.  The  haul 
from  the  Pacific  coast,  though  short,  is  over  passes  of  12,000 
feet  altitude.  A  third  of  the  area  of  Bolivia  is  from  10,000 
to  12,000  feet  altitude.  In  the  east,  it  has  much  the  same 
tropical  problem  as  Peru,  and  a  long  haul,  although  much 


ECONOMIC    FACTS   ABOUT  SOUTH   AMERICA  213 

easier,  by  water,  to  the  Atlantic.     Bolivia's  present  popu- 
lation is  2,000,000. 

The  economic  disadvantages  of  these  aforementioned 
groups  are  reflected,  of  course,  in  the  trade  figures.  For 
example,  the  total  trade  of  the  north  coast  is  only  a  trifle 
over  4  per  cent  of  that  of  the  total  trade  of  the  continent, 
and  the  total  trade  of  the  west  coast  is  20  per  cent  of  the 
total  trade  of  the  continent,  of  which  Chile,  with  its  nitrate, 
has  13.5  per  cent. 

Now  it  is  the  west  coast  of  South  America  that  will  be 
afTected  by  the  Panama  Canal.  But  for  reasons  of  its  geo- 
grai)hic  relations  to  Europe  and  to  the  United  States,  and 
the  routes  of  trade,  and  expense  of  tolls,  it  is  extremely 
doubtful  if  the  west  coast,  south  of  Valparaiso,  will  be  affected 
in  any  considerable  direct  way  by  the  Panama  Canal.  Pos- 
sibly a  present  population  of  10,000,000  on  the  west  coast, 
all  located  north  of  the  agricultural  section  of  Chile,  will  be 
affected  by  the  Canal. 

Coming  to  the  east  coast  a  vastly  different  situation  pre- 
sents itself.  In  Argentina  we  have  easily  the  country  of 
greatest  possibilities  in  South  America.  It  already  supplies 
over  30  per  cent  of  the  foreign  trade  of  South  America, 
although  having  but  about  15  per  cent  of  the  area  and  14.5 
per  cent  of  the  population.  Argentina  has  the  products 
which  the  world  needs,  and  must  have  increasingly  as  popu- 
lation increases — namely  food  stuffs.  We  are  practically 
ceasing  already  to  export  them.  Argentina  has  just  begun 
making  meat  shipments  to  us.  Land  values  are  steadily 
rising  in  the  Plate  region.  But  even  in  Argentina  there  are 
facts  to  be  considered. 

In  Patagonia,  south  of  the  Rio  Negro,  the  productive 
quality  of  the  land  as  evidenced  in  the  support  of  sheep,  is 
one  to  six,  when  compared  with  the  land  of  the  province 
of  Buenos  .Vires,  which  is  certainly  one  of  the  richest,  if  not 
the  richest  area  of  land  of  the  same  extent  in  the  world.  In 
the  central  part  of  Argentina  the  question  of  insufficient 
rainfall  is  serious.  At  the  western  boundary  of  Argentina 
the  rainfall  diminishes  to  4  inches,  but  there  irrigation  is 
possible,  and  is  in  effect.     In  the  north  of  Argentina  there 


214  SELDEN   O.    MARTIN 

is  much  saline  and  alkaline  land  and  swamp  land.  The 
amount  of  fertile  land  in  Argentina  is  not  limitless,  and  is 
probably  overestimated.  The  possibilities  of  dry  farming 
are  not  exhausted,  by  any  means,  but  it  can  be  said  that  the 
Argentine  government  regards  as  a  serious  problem  the  great 
areas  of  semi-arid  land  between  San  Luis  and  Mendoza.  A 
survey  of  the  physical  resources  of  Argentina  recently  com- 
pleted estimates  that  two-fifths  of  its  area  is  arable  land. 
Once  more,  still  mindful  of  the  precarious  footing  of  a  proph- 
et, it  can  be  ventured  that  an  estimate  of  30,000,000  as  a 
possibility  for  the  present  7,000,000  of  population  of  Argen- 
tina need  not  be  regarded  as  pessimistic. 

In  Brazil,  a  country  whose  area  is  nearly  equal  to  our  own 
excluding  Alaska,  we  have  much  more  of  an  unknown  quan- 
tity. Transportation  conditions  and  labor  conditions  in 
Brazil  are  indeed  serious.  The  labor  situation  it  is  being 
sought  to  remedy  by  immigration,  and  by  industrial  educa- 
tion, and  general  bettering  of  conditions.  No  one  really 
knows  much  about  Brazil.  It  has  a  population  at  present 
of  about  21,000,000  probably,  three  times  as  great  as  Argen- 
tina, but  with  5  per  cent  less  trade.  Ninety  per  cent  of 
Brazil  and  over  is  in  the  tropics.  Its  position  in  trade  is 
due  chiefly  to  its  products — rubber,  coffee,  and  cocoa.  In 
coffee  its  position  seems  secure,  its  proportion  to  the  world's 
supply  is  steadily  increasing  and  it  now  furnishes  nearly 
three-fourths  of  it.  In  rubber  exactly  the  reverse  has  taken 
place — its  proportion  to  the  world's  supply  falling  to  about 
one-half  at  present,  and  still  decreasing,  and  it  is  perfectly 
true  to  say  that  Brazilian  rubber  interests  are  seriously 
alarmed  over  the  future  of  their  rubber.  Experimentation 
in  plantation  rubber  is  being  conducted,  and  labor  and 
transportation  conditions  are  being  bettered  in  an  attempt 
to  hold  its  position  in  the  world's  rubber  market. 

I  should  disUke  to  be  considered  too  conservative  about 
South  America.  WTiat  I  have  sought  is  to  leave  with  you 
two  ideas,  one  general,  the  other  specific.  One  an  economic 
perspective  of  South  America  that  I  believe  to  be  correct, 
and  the  other  a  concrete  suggestion  for  our  South  American 
trade  to  establish  an  American  department  store  in  at  least 


ECONOMIC   FACTS   ABOUT   SOUTH   AMERICA  215 

one  city  in  South  America,  and  preferably  in  four  cities — 
as  a  potent  stimulator  of  trade. 

I  firmly  believe  that   despite   the  general  natural  infe- 
riority of  South  America  to  North  America,  it  will  progress 
more  in  the  next  fifty  years  than  it  has  in  the  last  four  hun- 
dred.    Its  time  has  come.     Political  stability  is  on  the  in- 
crease all  over  South  America,  and  public  financial  respon- 
sibility  of  the  southern   countries  is  practically  assiu'ed. 
Isolated,  small,  private  capital  investment  is  not  yet  rec- 
ommended, however.     Large  scale,   corporate  investment 
is  much  more  advisable.     To  Americans  seeking  their  for- 
tune it  may  be  said  that  the  men  chiefly  desired  at  present 
are  those  technically  trained  in  the  various  branches  of 
engineering — civil,    electrical,     and    mechanical.     And    in 
Argentina  at  least  our  agriculturists  are  looked  upon  most 
favorably.     To  the  American  in  general  seeking  his  fortune 
I  am  confident  that  the  opportunities  are  better  now,  and 
for  some  time  to  come,  in  the  United  States  and  Canada, 
and  that  in  the  long  run  the  comforts  of  life — what  the  econ- 
omist   would    call    "consumer's    surplus  "—will    be  found 
greater  in  the  United  States  and  Canada. 

The  English  and  especially  the  Germans,  it  is  true,  are 
going  to  South  America,  but  remember  that  Germany,  in 
an  area  no  larger  than  New  England,  New  York,  and  Penn- 
sylvania, is  supporting  a  population  of  over  65,000,000,  or 
three  times  the  population  that  those  states  are  supporting 
and  we  consider  them  crowded.  Conditions  due  to  dense 
population  similar  to  those  of  Germany  prevail  in  England. 
The  young  American,  with  a  love  for  travel  and  adven- 
ture, the  American  with  technical  training,  the  American 
engaged  in  foreign  trade,  or  seeking  to  engage  in  foreign 
trade,  may  be  advised  to  go,  if  he  is  assured  of  a  definite 
opening.     Other  Americans  before  going  may  well  consider. 


THE   PROB.AJBLE    EFFECT   OF   THE   OPENING  OF 

THE   PANAMA   CANAL   ON   OUR   ECONOMIC 

RELATIONS  WITH  THE  PEOPLE  OF  THE 

WEST  COAST  OF  SOUTH  AMERICA 

'  By  Hiram  Bingham,  Ph.D.  Assistant  Professor  of  Latin- 
American  History,  Yale  University 

With  the  actual  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal  so  near  at 
hand,  it  may  seem  to  some  that  the  consideration  of  this  sub- 
ject had  better  be  postponed  for  a  decade  or  so  until  the  ac- 
tual effect  rather  than  the  probable  effect  can  be  the  topic 
for  discussion.  To  such  minds  the  proper  time  for  consider- 
ing this  subject  has  long  since  passed.  It  might  have  been 
worth  discussing  when  the  question  as  to  the  advisability 
of  our  digging  the  canal  was  in  the  air,  but  at  present,  they 
say,  it  is  simply  a  wast«  of  time. 

To  this  it  may  be  replied  that  the  .American  people  dug 
the  Panama  Canal  for  miUtary  expediency  and  because  it 
suited  them  to  do  so,  chieflj^  to  knit  our  own  country  closer 
together,  and  without  regard  to  its  good  or  bad  effects  on  the 
west  coast  of  South  America.  Consequently  there  was  no  par- 
ticular object  in  discussing  this  subject  in  connection  with 
the  advisability  of  digging  the  canal.  Furthermore,  while 
there  is  no  question  that  a  study  of  the  actual  effect  of  the 
canal  on  the  west  coast  will  prove  to  be  both  interesting  and 
instructive  if  undertaken  during  the  course  of  the  next  dec- 
ade, there  are  also  good  reasons  why  it  is  expedient  to  con- 
sider this  subject  now,  even  while  we  are  on  the  threshold 
of  the  new  era. 

The  chief  of  these  reasons  is  the  keen  optimism  which  pre- 
vails in  some  circles  in  the  United  States  and  to  a  greater  ex- 
tent on  the  West  Coast,  that  the  opening  of  the  canal  is  going  to 
usher  in  an  era  of  great  prosperity;  is  in  fact,  going  to  effect  a 
veritable  economic  revolution.  If  this  is  true,  we  must  prepare 
for  it;  if  not,  we  must  be  on  our  guard  against  it.  In  either 
case  the  very  existence  of  this  optimism  is  a  sufficient  cause 

216 


EFFECT  OF  THE  OPENING  OF  THE  PANAMA  CANAL    217 

for  the  most  careful  consideration  of  the  possibihties.  Fore- 
warned is  forearmed.  No  man  starteth  to  build  a  house 
without  counting  the  cost  thereof,  lest  when  liis  work  is  but 
half  completed  he  find  that  he  cannot  continue,  and  his  half- 
built  edifice  remaineth  as  e\idence  of  his  folly.  In  other 
words,  it  is  the  policy  of  wisdom  both  for  us  and  for  South 
America  to  look  ahead  as  far  and  as  carefully  as  possible. 

Now  that  we  have  mentioned  this  optimism,  it  may  as 
well  be  admitted  in  the  beginning  that  the  probable  effects 
due  to  this  very  optimism  are  among  the  most  difficult  things 
which  we  have  to  estmiate.  Psychology  is,  I  suppose,  a 
science,  although  some  people  still  classify  it  under  philoso- 
phy, and  regard  it  as  extremely  empirical.  The  day  may 
come  when  the  masters  of  psychology  will  be  able  to  give 
us  as  accurate  a  prediction  regarding  the  probable  force  of 
any  given  set  of  beliefs  or  opinions  as  the  economic  geologists 
give  today  in  regard  to  the  probable  value  of  any  given  min- 
eral deposit.  No  one  denies  that  geology  is  a  science,  even 
though  we  all  know  that  the  reports  of  economic  geologists 
with  regard  to  the  probable  success  of  a  mine  are  not  always 
infallible! 

But  at  present,  psychologists  have  not  got  to  that  point 
where  they  can  even  approximate  the  positive  effects  of 
widely  disseminated  beliefs.  Consequently,  it  is  extremely 
difficult,  if  not  absolutely  impossible,  to  say  to  how  great  an 
extent  the  psychological  side  of  the  opening  of  the  Panama 
Canal  is  going  to  affect  our  trade  with  the  west  coast  and  our 
relations  with  the  people  of  Ecuador,  Peru  and  Chile.  Yet 
this  part  of  the  problem  cannot  be  hghtly  dismissed,  for  it 
appears  to  be  one  of  considerable  magnitude. 

Nearly  every  intelligent  Peruvian  and  Ecuadorian  with 
whom  one  talks  believes  firmly  and  enthusiastically  that, 
with  the  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal,  his  country  is  going  to 
start  out  on  an  era  of  great  conunercial  prosperity.  To  his 
sensitive  and  imaginative  mind,  the  defenses  to  a  rich  and 
great  city  are  about  to  be  pierced.  The  opening  of  the  water- 
way is  to  him  the  unlocking  of  the  gates  permitting  him  to 
enter  and  enjoy  the  results  of  a  long  and  arduous  siege.  With 
the  inrush  of  the  waters  into  the  canal  will  come  an  inrush  of 


218  HIRAM   BINGHAM 

capital,  immigration  and  trade,  which  will  raise  his  country 
out  of  its  present  despondent  condition  and  place  it  in  the 
forefront  of  the  world's  progress.  Veritably  it  is  a  miracle 
which  is  about  to  happen. 

The  Chilian  is  somewhat  less  optimistic.  He  is  sure  the 
the  canal  will  benefit  Chile,  but  just  how  much  is  another 
question.  He  is  keenly  conscious  of  the  fact  that  heretofore 
Chile  has  been  nearer  Em-ope  on  the  ocean  waterway  than 
any  other  west  coast  country,  while  the  opening  of  the  canal 
will  reverse  this  position  and  make  Chile  the  farthest  away. 
At  the  same  time,  the  Chilian  is  doing  what  he  can  to  take 
advantage  of  any  new  opportunities  by  actively  building 
new  docks  and  new  railroads.  A  large  section  of  the  longi- 
tudinal railway  which  parallels  the  coast  has  recently  been 
completed,  and  plans  are  already  being  considered  for  large 
extensions.  By  reasion  of  its  wealth  of  nitrates  Chile  is  pros- 
perous. Export  duties  on  this  valuable  product  give  her 
an  abundant  revenue.  Her  climate  is  more  temperate;  what 
agricultm*al  land  she  has  is  more  available.  The  Indian 
stock  in  the  south  of  Chile  is  more  vigorous  than  that  of  her 
northern  neighbors. 

Owing  to  adverse  economic  conditions  the  ardent  optim- 
ism of  the  Peruvians  and  Ecuadorians  has  not  enabled  them 
to  do  as  much  as  they  would  like  in  preparation  for  the 
opening  of  the  canal.  Furthermore,  there  is  the  well-known 
tendency  which  prevails  in  so  many  tropical  countries  of 
believing  that  things  are  going  to  happen  without  actually 
doing  very  much  to  make  them  happen.  Consequently, 
much  as  I  feel  that  the  west  coast  people  are  going  to  be  dis- 
appointed in  the  extent  of  the  prosperity  which  is  about  to 
come  to  their  shores,  I  have  not  found  any  evidence  to  show 
that  this  disappointment,  if  it  comes,  will  mean  great  finan- 
cial loss,  accompanied  by  the  hardships  incident  to  the  col- 
lapse of  a  boom,  unless  this  boom  is  engineered  by  outside 
capital.  Even  in  that  case,  the  hardest  blow  will  fall  on  the 
investor,  and  there  are  relatively  few  capitalists  on  the  west 
coast. 

The  psychologic  effect  on  the  minds  and  actions  of  the  busi- 
ness men  of  the  United  States  is  far  more  diflScult  to  estimate, 


EFFECT  OF  THE  OPENING  OF  THE  PANAMA  CANAL        219 

and  is  likely  to  be  followed  by  graver  consequences.  If  a  con- 
siderable number  of  American  manufacturers  and  capitalists 
get  carried  away  with  the  idea  that  the  opening  of  the  Pan- 
ama Canal  means  a  great  boom  on  the  west  coast  of  South 
America,  if  they  believe  that  the  completion  of  that  water- 
way is  of  equal  significance  with  the  completion  of  the  first 
transcontinental  railway  across  the  United  States,  or  with 
one  of  the  great  industrial  discoveries  such  as  the  practical 
application  of  steam  to  navigation  or  the  replacement  of 
iron  for  wood  in  the  construction  of  ocean  vessels,  if  they 
catch  any  part  of  the  tremendous  optimism  and  enthusiasm 
of  the  average  Peruvian,  for  instance,  something  very  serious 
is  going  to  happen.  American  energy  and  initiative,  backed 
by  American  capital,  will  be  directed  to  new  projects,  and 
enterprises  involving  great  risks  will  be  undertaken. 

It  is  possible  to  conceive  of  a  great  increase  in  our  trade 
with  the  west  coast  of  South  America,  due  solely  to  the  fact 
that  American  manufacturers  believe  that  the  opening  of  the 
canal  has  opened  to  them  a  new  market,  and  made  it  possible 
for  them  to  secure  trade  in  regions  where  they  have  supposed 
this  was  heretofor  impossible.  It  is  entirely  within  the 
bounds  of  possibility  that  American  capitalists,  looking  for 
larger  returns  on  their  investments,  and  believing  that  the 
opening  of  the  Panama  Canal  is  equivalent  to  opening  the 
doors  of  tremendous  opportunity  on  the  west  coast,  will 
place  large  smns  of  money  in  enterprises  which  they  would 
not  otherwise  have  thought  of  considering. 

We  have  no  means  of  estimating  precisely  the  extent  of 
this  optmism  in  this  country.  It  varies  in  dififerent  sections 
and  varies  largely  with  the  temperament  of  the  people  with 
whom  one  talks.  If  we  could  only  tell  exactly  the  force  of  it, 
we  should  be  able  to  predict  with  reasonable  accuracy  the 
size  of  the  approaching  boom. 

Before  any  such  boom  gets  started  it  behooves  us  to  ob- 
serve as  accurately  as  possible  the  foundation  on  which  it 
will  have  to  rest.  If  the  economic  and  geographical  founda- 
tions exist  for  such  an  extension  of  trade  and  capital  as  would 
follow  any  such  optimism  on  our  part  as  exists  on  the  west 
coast,  then  the  future  has  indeed  in  store  for  us  many  won- 


220  HIRAM   BINGHAM 

derfuUy  attractive  features.  If  on  the  other  hand,  sufficiently 
broad  bases  do  not  exist  for  the  building  up  of  such  an  edifice 
as  we  have  just  contemplated,  a  crash  is  bound  to  follow,  and 
a  crash  that  will  cause  suffering  both  here  and  abroad  in 
direct  proportion  to  the  superlative  or  unwarranted  enthusi- 
asm which  has  been  aroused  by  the  psychology  of  the  open- 
ing of  the  canal. 

In  other  words,  if  our  examination  shows  this  foundation 
to  be  broad,  soUd  and  stationary,  the  sooner  the  average 
American  business  man  makes  up  his  mind  to  join  in  the 
movement  the  greater  will  be  his  gain.  If,  on  the  other  hand, 
we  come  to  the  conviction  that  the  foundations  are  narrow 
and  uncertain,  the  more  cautious  the  American  manufacturer 
and  capitalist  are,  the  less  they  will  lose  in  time  and  money, 
and  the  less  the  west  coast  will  lose  in  reputation  and  good 
prospects. 

The  probable  effects  of  the  opening  of  the  Canal  on  our 
relations  to  the  west  coast  depend,  therefore,  not  only  on  the 
amount  of  enthusiasm  that  is  aroused  in  the  United  States, 
and  on  the  west  coast;  but  also,  in  the  long  run,  on  the  actual 
economic  and  geographical  conditions  on  that  coast.  Having 
considered  the  psychological  side,  let  us  now  turn  to  the  geo- 
graphical and  ethnological. 

In  the  first  place  let  me  ask  you  to  look  at  a  physiographic 
map  of  South  America.  The  first  thing  that  will  strike  your 
attention  is  that  the  great  highlands  of  South  America  run 
continuously  up  and  down  the  west  coast  within  a  few  miles 
of  the  seaboard.  On  the  east  coast  are  a  number  of  high 
mountains,  but  on  the  west  coast  there  is  a  long  section  which 
you  will  see  is  over  16,000  feet  above  sea  level,  and  a  still 
longer  section  which  continues  for  thousands  of  miles  with- 
out a  break  at  an  elevation  of  over  10,000  feet. 

It  looks  as  though  nature  had  built  a  bulwark,  an  enor- 
mous Chinese  wall,  to  protect  South  America  from  approach 
on  the  west.  This  enormous  mountain  barrier  makes  the 
little  Gateway  at  Panama  seem  very  futile  so  far  as  the  great 
bulk  of  the  South  American  continent  is  concerned.  Here  is  a 
barrier  several  thousand  miles  long,  and  varying  in  height 
from  8000  to  20,000  feet.     Scarcely  ever  is  it  less  than  10,000 


EFFECT  OF  THE  OPENING  OF  THE  PANAMA  CANAL        221 

feet  above  sea  level.  It  is  not  fair  to  say  that  the  opening 
of  the  Canal  will  not  affect  the  height  of  this  mountain  wall, 
for  anything  which  cheapens  transportation  makes  it  easier 
to  bring  in  the  steel  rails  and  locomotives  which  can  cUmb 
the  Andes  and  reach  the  central  and  eastern  parts  of  South 
America.  At  the  same  time,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that, 
owing  to  the  lack  of  any  such  barrier  on  the  east  coast,  and 
owing  to  the  existence  there  of  navigable  rivers  like  the  Ama- 
zon, the  Madeira,  and  the  Rio  de  la  Plata,  the  valuable 
central  and  eastern  plains  of  South  America  are  much  more 
accessible  from  the  Atlantic  than  they  will  ever  be  from 
the  Pacific  coast. 

Speaking  of  rivers  you  will  observe  that  there  are  no  navi- 
gable rivers  on  the  west  coast.  Speaking  of  plains,  it  is  per- 
fectly evident  that  the  great  plains  where  agriculture  and 
animal  industries  can  be  carried  on  to  any  great  extent,  are 
not  on  the  west  coast,  but  on  the  east,  and  are  tapped  by 
navigable  rivers  in  a  country  where  railroads  can  be  built 
easily  and  cheaply,  instead  of  with  the  maximmn  both  of 
difficulty  and  expense  as  on  the  west  coast. 

If  the  day  ever  comes  when  aeroplanes  are  relatively  as 
safe  and  as  cheap  as  bicycles,  then  life  in  the  Andes  will  see 
a  great  revolution.  But  the  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal 
has  relatively  little  to  do  with  the  maintenance  cost  of  Andean 
transportation.  Even  those  railroads  which  are  already  in 
existence  and  are  in  the  best  locations  for  securing  trade  and 
building  up  local  industries,  find  it  excessively  difficult  to  pay 
expenses.  Eliminate  all  the  differences  in  cost  of  building 
these  railroads  between  what  they  actually  cost  and  what  it 
would  cost  to  construct  them  after  the  opening  of  the  Panama 
Canal,  and  even  on  that  basis  of  capitalization,  they  could 
only  with  the  greatest  difficulty  pay  a  very  moderate  inter- 
est on  the  investment. 

When  one  looks  at  the  physical  character  of  South  America, 
it  is  easy  to  understand  why  this  is  so.  Before  a  railroad  can 
get  more  than  100  miles  into  the  interior,  it  must  chmb  up 
into  the  sky,  two  or  three  miles.  Take  for  instance  the  Oroya 
Railroad  which  runs  from  Lima,  the  capital  of  Peru,  into 
its  richest  mining  district.     In  the  first  75  miles  it  has  to 


222  HIRAM   BINGHAM 

climb  up  over  15,000  feet.  This  means  enormous  expense 
of  maintenance.  Even  if  the  railroad  ran  through  a  rich  and 
rapidly  developing  country,  it  would  have  serious  financial 
problems  to  face.  As  it  is,  its  difficulties  are  ahnost  insuper- 
able. And  when  one  gets  up  on  top  of  the  plateau,  what 
then?  Life  at  great  altitudes  is  anything  but  pleasant.  The 
possibilities  are  extremely  limited.  There  are  mines  and 
there  are  great  mineral  deposits.  Some  parts  of  them  have 
been  exploited  by  wealthy  and  enthusiastic  capitalists; 
very  few  have  paid  dividends.  It  is  a  grave  question  whether 
the  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal  will  aid  much  to  alter  the 
conditions  of  transportation,  the  difficulties  of  securing  labor, 
and  the  unpleasantness  of  conducting  mines  at  an  elevation 
of  over  13,000  feet  above  sea  level. 

There  is  no  place  in  the  world  where  transportation  prob- 
lems are  more  difl&cult  than  on  the  west  coast  of  South  Amer- 
ica. The  rails  in  southern  Peru  have  to  cross  a  pass  at  an 
elevation  of  14,666  feet  above  sea  level.  The  new  railroad 
in  northern  Chile  has  a  pass  nearly  14,000  feet  high,  and  the 
next  railroad  that  crosses  the  Andes  to  the  great  silver  mines 
and  tin  deposits  of  southern  Bolivia  crosses  at  an  elevation  of 
14,500  feet.  The  transcontinental  line  goes  through  a  tun- 
nel at  an  elevation  of  over  10,000  feet.  This  great  mountain 
chain  of  the  Andes,  translated  into  terms  of  economic  effi- 
ciency, means  enormous  costs  of  transportation,  terrific  dif- 
ficulties in  building  railroads,  canyons  from  4000  to  10,000 
feet  deep  separating  sparsely  populated  mountain  uplands, 
where  it  is  not  easy  to  believe  that  there  is  enough  economic 
basis  for  the  construction  of  the  extremely  costly  railroads 
which  would  have  to  be  built  to  connect  them. 

We  have  heard  from  some  of  our  friends  in  Washington 
that  the  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal  is  going  to  open  a 
tremendous  opportunity  to  commerce  and  trade  in  this  coun- 
try on  the  west  coast  of  South  America.  I  am  quite  willing 
to  admit  that  if  the  geogi-aphical  conditions  were  turned 
about,  the  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal  would  indeed  be 
the  means  of  a  vast  opportunity  in  South  America  for  the 
commerce  and  trade  of  this  country. 

Just  imagine  for  a  moment  what  the  opening  of  the  Pan- 


EFFECT  OF  THE  OPENING  OF  THE  PANAMA  CANAL        223 

ama  Canal  would  mean  if  the  east  coast  of  South  America 
were  fringed  by  a  mountain  barrier  10,000  feet  high  and 
the  west  coast  had  navigible  rivers  and  enormous  plains.  It 
almost  paralyzes  the  imagination  to  attempt  to  estimate  the 
enormous  development  which  would  speedily  follow  the 
shortening  of  distances.  Instead  of  this  being  the  case,  the 
reverse  is  true,  and  the  great  bulk  of  South  America  will 
not  be  one  day  nearer  than  it  ever  has  been,  and  the  worst 
of  it  is  that  this  bulk  is  not  only  larger  in  area,  but  far  more 
important  economically.  The  possibilities  for  the  future 
development  of  Brazil  and  Argentina  are  so  great  that  it 
is  impossible  to  estimate  them,  but  such  remarks,  unfortu- 
nately, cannot  apply  to  the  west  coast  where  the  hand  of 
Nature  has  not  been  any  too  kind. 

Not  only  did  nature  build  a  stone  wall  to  shut  off  the  west 
coast  from  participating  in  the  normal  development  of  the 
South  American  continent,  but  she  proceeded  to  build  a 
desert  wall  as  well.  There  are  more  than  2000  miles  of  the 
west  coast  that  do  not  get  more  than  10  inches  of  rain  a  year. 
Here,  again,  it  would  seem  as  though  nature  had  given  an 
extraordinarily  heavy  handicap  to  the  Pacific  side  of  South 
America. 

I  Not  content  with  raising  a  huge  mountain  barrier,  she 
has  put  in  a  barrier  of  desert  for  nearly  2000  miles,  and  as 
though  adding  insult  to  injury,  at  the  two  extremities  of  the 
west  coast,  where  the  desert  does  not  exist,  Nature  goes  to 
the  other  extreme  and  gives  too  much  rain.  As  a  result,  the 
western  edge  of  the  Republic  of  Colombia  is  a  dense  tropical 
jungle,  fever  stricken  and  extremely  unhealthy.  The  south- 
ern coast  of  Chile,  where  there  is  abundant  rain,  is  in  a  cold 
region,  very  much  like  Norway.  The  temperate  latitudes  are 
largely  desert.  Incidentally,  one  observes  by  looking  at  a 
rainfall  map  of  South  America  that  those  regions  which  are 
properly  watered,  having  between  40  and  80  inches  a  year, 
are  almost  entirely  in  Argentina,  Uruguay,  Paraguay,  Brazil, 
and  Venezuela.  In  other  words,  the  east  coast,  besides  hav- 
ing the  advantage  in  navigal)le  streams  and  plains,  has  a 
great  advantage  in  rainfall.  There  seems  to  be  very  litthi 
comfort  for  those  who  are  looking  for  a  geographically  solid 


224  HIRAM   BINGHAM 

basis  for  the  economic  development  of  the  west  coast,  even 
after  the  Panama  Canal  is  opened.  In  the  North  we  have 
tropical  jungles  and  in  the  south  cold  araucaria.  The  central 
portion  is  desert  and  a  great  deal  of  it  is  Alpine. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  note  in  passing  that  the  causes 
of  this  curious  distribution  of  rainfall  are  threefold:  the 
height  of  the  Andes,  the  direction  of  the  Humboldt  current, 
and  the  direction  of  the  prevailing  winds  across  the  con- 
tinent of  South  America.  These  winds  coming  from  the 
Atlantic,  laden  with  moisture,  cause  great  rainfall  in  the  Am- 
azon Valley  and  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  mountains,  and 
leave  no  moisture  to  be  precipitated  on  the  west  coast.  The 
Humboldt  current,  coohng  the  entire  coast  as  far  north  as 
Ecuador,  causes  some  mist  and  rain  to  be  deposited  at  sea 
and  along  the  fringing  foothills  during  some  part  of  the  year, 
but  prevents  the  sunburned  coastal  strip  from  securing  even 
that  Uttle  rain  that  it  might  expect  in  occasional  westerlies. 
One  of  the  surprising  things  some  people  find  when  they  go 
down  the  west  coast  is  that  the  water  is  too  cold  to  permit 
them  the  luxury  of  tropical  sea  baths,  as  in  Hawaii. 

In  view  of  all  this,  conditions  are  most  undesirable  for 
anything  hke  ranching  or  agriculture  on  the  west  coast, 
whereas  on  the  east  coast,  Nature,  in  addition  to  gi\'ing  them 
extremely  fertile  plains  and  a  fine  agricultural  country,  has 
given  them  the  best  rainfall  that  one  could  wish  for,  for  the 
purposes  of  agriculture  and  animal  industries. 

Now,  keeping  clearly  in  mind  the  actual  geographical 
handicaps  of  the  west  coast,  the  long  desert  on  the  seaboard, 
the  high  dry  plateau  back  of  it,  and  the  lofty  chain  of  moun- 
tains rendering  transportation  extremely  difficult  and  ex- 
cessively expensive,  let  us  attempt  to  estimate  just  what 
economic  basis  the  future  development  of  the  west  coast  has 
to  depend  upon. 

First  and  foremost  comes  mineral  wealth.  If  there  is 
enough  mineral  wealth  it  can  overcome  untold  difficulties  of 
transportation.  It  does  not  need  rainfall  or  vegetation;  it 
merely  requires  a  market.  Mineral  wealth  is  the  strong  point 
of  the  west  coast.  The  very  aridity  of  the  northern  Chihan 
desert  is  the  cause  of  Chile's  great  wealth  of  nitrates.     The 


EFFECT  OF  THE  OPENING  OF  TIIE  PANAMA  CANAL         225 

exploitation  of  the  nitrate  fields  by  English  and  other  foreign 
capitalists,  and  by  the  Chihan  capitalists  themselves,  has 
gone  on  apace  during  the  past  twenty-five  years.  The  neces- 
sary railroads  and  port  works  have  been  constructed,  labor 
has  been  introduced,  and  refining  plants  have  been  built.  The 
only  clouds  on  the  horizon,  are,  first,  the  fact  that  there  must 
be  a  definite  limit  to  the  amount  of  nitrate  which  can  be 
profitably  extracted,  and,  second,  the  recent  successful 
extraction,  in  Norway,  of  nitrates  from  the  nitrogen  in  the 
atmosphere. 

The  length  of  the  ocean  voyage  from  the  nitrate  fields  to 
the  agricultural  fields  of  Germany,  one  of  the  best  customers 
for  Chihan  nitrates,  will  be  shortened  about  3000  miles  by 
the  opening  of  the  Canal.  This  will  cheapen  the  cost  of  ni- 
trate in  Germany  and  thereby  benefit  the  European  farmer, 
if,  as  seems  likely,  the  canal  tolls  do  not  offset  this  to  a  great 
extent.  Similarly,  it  ought  to  cheapen  the  cost  of  fertilizers 
to  our  western  farmers,  who  will  undoubtedly  import  nitrate 
through  the  port  of  New  Orleans.  Eventually,  it  seems  as 
though  this  might  be  of  great  benefit  to  agriculture  in  the 
United  States,  and,  by  increasing  the  demand,  of  consider- 
able benefit  to  the  Chilians.  The  outlook  here  is  decidedly 
promising.  The  question  as  to  the  limits  of  production  of  the 
somewhat  restricted  Chilian  nitrate  field  need  not  concern  us 
here  at  this  time,  for  there  seems  to  be  plenty  of  nitrate  for 
at  least  fifty  or  one  hundred  years  to  come. 

Unquestionably,  the  agriculturists  of  the  ]Mississippi  Val- 
ley ought  to  be  prepared  to  take  advantage  of  the  cheapen- 
ing of  the  cost  of  nitrates  which  must  follow  the  opening  of 
the  Canal.  It  is  common  knowledge  that  we  in  this  country 
lag  far  behind  Europe  in  our  knowledge  of  intensive  cultiva- 
tion and  scientific  agricultm*e.  With  our  broad  and  fertile 
prairies,  we  have  not  had  to  practice  such  careful  husbandry 
as  the  European  farmers.  This  is  one  of  the  causes  of  the 
high  cost  of  living.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  time  is  coming 
when  we  shall  learn  the  advantage  of  making  our  soil  profluce 
as  much  as  it  possibly  can. 

The  sugar  planters  of  Louisiana,  who  believe  that  they 
face  ruin  in  the  prosjiect  of  free  sugar,  have  yet  to  test  the 


226  HIRAM   BINGHAM 

result  of  using  Chilian  nitrates.  It  may  be  that  with  the 
cheapening  of  this  product  in  the  port  of  New  Orleans,  it 
will  be  possible  for  the  Louisiana  planter  so  to  increase  the 
yield  of  his  fields  that  he  will  be  better  off  than  in  the  old  days 
of  protected  sugar.  It  is  well  known  that  the  most  profitable 
sugar  plantations  on  the  Hawaiian  Islands  have  long  used 
scientifically  made  fertilizers  in  keeping  the  production  of 
their  sugar-cane  fields  up  to  the  maximum.  Even  in  my 
boyhood  I  remember  saihng- vessels  coming  to  Honolulu 
laden  with  Chilian  nitrates. 

Cargoes,  hke  nitrates,  which  bulk  large  and  have  relatively 
small  value,  cannot  pay  heavy  transportation  charges.  It 
certainly  would  not  have  paid  to  have  carried  them  across 
the  Isthmus  of  Panama  by  rail  for  the  sake  of  getting  them 
quickly  to  New  Orleans.  A  tramp  steamer,  with  a  load  of 
Chilian  nitrate,  bound  for  Iquique  to  New  Orleans,  will  find 
its  jom'ney  shortened  by  6000  miles,  saving  50  cents  to  SI  per 
ton.  Here  in  this  nitrate  business  is  something  definite  and 
tangible,  a  sohd  basis  for  future  gi'owth,  and  a  cause  of  in- 
creased prosperity  both  to  Chile  and  to  the  ^Mississippi  Val- 
ley, if  not  also  to  the  states  of  the  Atlantic  seaboard. 

The  guano  of  the  Peruvian  islands  comes  under  the  same 
head.  The  chief  diflSculty  here  is  that,  owing  to  the  very 
hmited  quantity  of  this  product  and  the  need  for  it  in  Peru- 
vian agriculture,  it  does  not  seem  likely  to  prove  a  large  fac- 
tor in  the  future  development.  Only  recently  an  executive 
order  has  stopped  the  collection  of  guano  on  those  islands 
from  which  the  Peruvian  Corporation  secured  their  most  val- 
uable product  and  one  of  the  chief  sources  of  their  none-too- 
large  profits. 

Next  to  nitrates,  probably  comes  copper.  The  world- 
wide increase  in  the  use  of  electricity  seems  to  be  creating 
a  steadily  increasing  market  for  this  metal.  There  are  enor- 
mous copper  deposits  in  Peru  and  Chile.  Probably  the  best 
known  in  this  country  are  the  mines  of  Cerro  de  Pasco  and  of 
the  Braden  Copper  Company.  Stories  of  extraordinary  new 
finds  are  continually  coming  in;  contradictory  reports  con- 
cerning the  future  development  of  very  extensive  projects, 
one  of  them  necessitating  the  building  of  a  §5,000,000  rail- 


EFFECT  OF  THE  OPENING  OF  THE  PANAMA  CANAL        227 

way  in  order  to  connect  one  of  these  copper  deposits  with 
the  seacoast,  are  current  in  the  South  American  journals. 
\\^ith  the  shortened  water  transportation,  undoubtedly  an  in- 
creased amount  of  copper  will  be  brought  from  the  west 
coast  to  the  United  States.  As  long  as  copper  is  as  valuable 
as  it  is  at  present,  about  S330  a  ton,  it  is  w^orth  while  to  pay 
the  high  charges  of  the  Panama  Railroad.  Whether  the  in- 
creased output  of  copper,  which  will  be  encouraged  by  the 
greater  ease  of  transport,  will  seriously  affect  the  price  in 
this  country  is  a  matter  of  dispute.  On  the  other  hand,  there 
is  no  doubt  that  the  money  spent  in  west  coast  mines  for 
wages  will  increase  the  purchasing  power  of  the  people  of  the 
west  coast. 

Next  to  coppper  in  importance  from  the  mineral  standpoint 
comes  the  tin  of  Bolivia,  which  must  find  its  outlet  either 
through  the  ports  of  the  west  coast  or  by  the  railways  of 
Argentina.  It  was  the  original  intention  of  both  the  Argen- 
tine and  Bolivian  governments  to  build  a  railway  south  from 
Potosi,  so  that  this  most  important  tin-producing  region 
would  find  its  outlet  on  the  Rio  de  Plata  rather  than  on  the 
Pacific  Ocean.  But  the  actual  railroad  which  has  been  con- 
structed from  Oruro  to  Potosi  makes  it  more  probable  that 
this  tin  will  come  out  by  way  of  Antofagasta.  Here  again  is 
the  basis  for  increased  prosperity  in  Bolivia  and  for  cheaper 
tin  for  American  manufacturers.  ^Vhether  it  will  work 
out  that  way  or  not  remains  to  be  seen. 

With  regard  to  the  more  precious  metals,  such  as  gold, 
silver,  and  vanadium,  they  are  of  such  great  value  in  propor- 
tion to  their  bulk  that  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  opening  of 
the  Panama  Canal  will  seriously  affect  their  production, 
even  though  it  will  make  it  a  little  cheaper  for  mines  to  secure 
heavy  machinery.  The  chief  cost  of  transporting  this  ma- 
chinery in  the  past,  however,  has  not  been  the  long  ocean 
voyage,  but  the  difficulty  of  getting  it  ashore  on  a  coast 
where  good  ports  are  extremely  scarce,  and  the  enormous  cost 
of  transporting  it  over  the  mountains  to  the  mines  where  it  is 
needed. 

I  remember  visiting  a  well-known  gold  mine  in  southern 
Peru  in  1911,  where  a  quartz-crushing  plant  was  being  in- 


228  HIRAM   BINGHAM 

stalled.  We  were  informed  by  the  manager  that  the  cost  of 
bringing  some  of  the  pieces  of  the  machinery  over  the  two 
days  of  pack-mule  trail  was  almost  equal  to  the  value  of  the 
mules.  In  other  words,  the  mule  contractor  found  that  after 
a  mule  had  made  one  journey  with  such  a  heavy  piece  of 
machinery  it  was  good  for  nothing  thereafter.  It  seems  to 
me  highly  problematical  whether  the  cheapening  of  ocean 
freights  will  cause  any  great  increase  in  the  amount  of  rail- 
way building,  and  after  all  the  greatest  barrier  in  the  way 
of  developing  a  mountainous  mineral  region  is  the  cost  of 
transportation  and  the  maintenance  of  roads. 

Finally,  there  is  the  question  of  petroleum.  Within  the 
past  few  years  profitable  oil  wells  have  been  developed  on  the 
coast  of  northern  Peru.  Recently  word  has  come  of  the  inten- 
tion of  British  capitalists  to  invest  a  large  amount  of  money 
in  exploiting  oil  fields  in  Ecuador  and  Colombia.  The  open- 
ing of  the  Canal  will  enable  the  west  coast  oil  to  find  a  nearer 
market. 

The  minute  one  leaves  the  question  of  mineral  resources 
and  begins  to  take  up  the  question  of  agriculture,  it  can  read- 
ily be  imagined  that  this  is  a  subject  which  has  very  decided 
limitations.  To  be  sure,  there  are  considerable  areas  in 
Peru,  at  present  desert,  which  might  be  irrigated.  Last 
winter  when  I  was  in  Lima  I  was  told  that  there  were  two 
representatives  of  foreign  capitalists  then  in  Lima,  attempting 
to  secure  concessions  which  would  make  it  worth  while  to 
invest  from  $5,000,000  to  $10,000,000  in  irrigation  enter- 
prises. Considered  with  their  relative  bearing  on  the  great 
question  of  any  extraordinary  era  of  commercial  prosperity, 
such  enterprises  would  only  be  interesting  as  straws  to  show 
which  way  the  wind  was  blowing.  The  fact  remains  that  the 
capital  was  willing  to  come  if  it  could  get  reasonably  favor- 
able consideration.  I  do  not  speak  from  personal  knowledge, 
but  I  have  been  told  on  what  I  believe  to  be  good  authority, 
that  both  enterprises  fell  through  because  of  local  conditions 
which  would  not  be  affected  by  the  opening  of  the  Panama 
Canal. 

It  is  easy  for  the  enthusiastic  Latin-American  to  let  hie 
imagination  get  the  best  of  liim  and  to  overestimate  the 


EFFECT  OF  THE  OPENING  OF  THE  PANAMA  CANAL  229 

value  of  the  great  natural  resources  of  his  country.  It  is 
difficult  for  him  to  realize  the  enormous  human  handicaps 
that  exist  between  the  consummation  of  his  wishes  and  actual 
conditions.  He  is  not  to  be  blamed  for  this;  it  is,  on  the  con- 
trary, a  praiseworthy  quality.  People  inhabitating  a  region 
where  Nature  has  placed  great  obstacles  in  the  way  of  human 
progress  must  necessarily  be  optimistic  or  they  will  be 
crushed  by  pesshnism.  At  the  same  time,  it  behooves  the 
investigator  to  take  careful  account  of  this  optimism,  which, 
by  raising  too  many  artificial  obstacles,  frequently  gets  in  the 
way  of  the  investment  of  capital.  Not  only  optimism,  but 
pride  of  race,  and  justifiable  self-respect,  frequently  obstruct 
the  course  of  those  who  would  secure  profitable  concessions. 

It  is  true  that  a  certain  amount  of  sugar  and  cotton  can 
be  raised  on  the  Peruvian  coast.  The  land  available  for  such 
purposes  is  not  unlimited  and  there  are,  furthermore,  serious 
handicaps  in  the  way  of  great  progress  along  these  lines. 
Both  water  and  labor  are  scarce.  At  the  same  time,  and 
within  certain  definite  restrictions,  the  amount  of  machinery 
which  could  profitably  be  sold  to  sugar  and  cotton  planters 
in  Peru  is  undoubtedly  capable  of  increase.  Cheaper  freights, 
more  speedy  delivery,  and  lack  of  the  necessity  of  trans- 
shipment at  Panama  ought  to  benefit  both  the  Peruvian 
planters  and  American  manufacturers  of  machinery.  To 
how  great  an  extent  this  benefit  is  capable  of  enlargement, 
time  alone  can  tell.  Those  who  are  interested  will  have  to 
make  a  special  study  of  this  subject. 

From  this  review  of  economic  resources  it  is  readily  seen 
that  while  the  future  of  the  west  coast  has  nothing  in  store 
at  all  comparable  in  extent  to  the  future  of  the  east  coast, 
there  are  great  possibilities  from  the  tremendous  deposits 
of  copper,  nitrates,  and  tin,  and  the  possible  extent  of  oil 
fields.  The  development  of  these  mineral  industries  means 
the  necessity  of  building  railroads.  The  influx  of  capital 
which  must  follow  this  will  slowly  increase  tlie  purchasing 
power  of  the  people,  and  thereby  increase  the  demand  for 
American  manufactured  products. 

This  now  brings  us  to  the  second  aspect  of  our  problem, 
namely,  the  ethnographic  or  racial  side.    Who  are  the  people 


230  HIRAM   BINGHAM 

that  form  the  great  bulk  of  the  market  of  the  west  coast? 
The  majority  of  them  are  non-Spanish-speaking  Indians. 
The  people  whom  you  meet  in  the  cities,  as  you  travel  up 
and  down  the  coast,  are,  most  of  them,  Spanish-speaking  de- 
scendents  of  the  early  Spanish  conquerors  and  former  Span- 
ish colonists.  But  when  you  get  in  to  the  back  country  you 
find  hundreds  of  thousands  of  civilized  Indians  who  do  not  use 
the  Spanish  language.  These  people  are  extremely  conserva- 
tive. They  have  very  few  wants,  and  they  do  not  form  an 
active  purchasing  class.  Their  wants  have  got  to  be  care- 
fully studied  by  the  American  exporter,  and  in  particular 
the  wants  which  they  are  going  to  develop  during  the  next 
generation.  Ecuador,  Peru,  and  Bolivia  are  governed  by 
Spanish-speaking  people,  and  if  you  visit  the  cities  of  Guaya- 
quil, Lima,  Valparaiso,  and  Iquique,  or  even  interior  cities 
like  Arequipa  and  Santiago,  the  people  whom  you  meet, 
and  most  of  the  people  whom  you  see,  speak  Spanish.  But 
the  great  mass  of  the  population  of  the  Andes,  both  north 
and  south,  is  still  primitive  Indian,  speaking  Quichua  and 
Aymard. 

The  Indian  problem  is  a  very  serious  thing;  it  is  in  fact 
the  most  serious  thing  that  confronts  the  governments  of 
Peru  and  Bolivia  today.  In  eastern  Peru  the  rich  man,  the 
well-to-do  man,  the  man  of  culture  and  refinement,  ahnost 
without  exception  gets  his  money  from  land  on  which  he 
has  planted  either  coca,  the  source  of  cocaine,  or  sugar  cane, 
from  which  he  gets  sugar  to  a  certain  extent,  but  to  a  far 
larger  extent  aguardiente  or  "fire-water. " 

The  cost  of  transporting  coca  leaves  or  "fire-water"  bears 
some  fair  proportion  to  the  value  of  the  product  in  a  land  of 
mule  transportation.  Consequently  it  pays  to  raise  and  de- 
velop these  crops,  but  unfortunately  it  results  in  an  entire 
economic  system  based  on  the  production  and  consumption 
of  two  deleterious  things,  cocaine  and  fire-water,  and  the 
chief  consumers  are  the  Indian  laborers,  the  majority  of  the 
people  of  the  Andes,  whose  efficiency  is  thereby  steadily  di- 
minished. It  is  a  vicious  circle  and  one  of  the  greatest  prob- 
lems that  confronts  those  countries.  Personally,  it  seems 
to  me  possible  to  establish  in  these  interior  valleys  planta- 


EFFECT  OF  THE  OPENING  OF  THE  PANAMA  CANAL   231 

tions  of  cotton,  and  to  utilize  the  tremendous  resources  of 
power  from  the  streams,  and  so  to  build  up  a  circle  which 
will  provide  to  the  Indians  something  besides  two  things 
that  damage  them  and  take  away  all  ambition  and  progress. 

Furthermore,  as  I  have  previously  said,  the  Indians  are 
extremely  conservative;  their  habits  are  very  difficult  to 
change.  You  may  show  them  the  best  form  of  the  most 
efficient  spade  to  work  with — they  prefer  the  old  kind.  You 
may  provide  them  with  steel  plows,  but  unless  you  make 
them  use  them,  they  will  continue  to  use  the  pointed  stick. 
Consequently,  there  is  a  difficult  problem  to  meet  there,  an 
ethnological  problem  that  demands  earnest  attention  and 
first-hand  study.    The  Indians  are  not  ready  for  a  boom. 

Finally,  let  me  recapitulate: 

Keen  optimism  prevails  in  some  circles  in  the  United  States 
and,  to  a  greater  extent,  on  the  west  coast,  as  to  the  probable 
results  of  the  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal.  Many  people 
beheve  that  a  veritable  economic  revolution  is  going  to  set 
in  and  that  the  west  coast  is  on  the  verge  of  an  era  of  great 
prosperity. 

It  is  difficult  to  estimate  exactly  the  psychological  results 
of  the  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal.  At  the  same  time,  there 
is  no  question  that  the  great  optimism  which  prevails  will 
cause  many  business  ventures  to  be  undertaken.  Some  of 
these  might  well  be  done  now,  but  actually  they  will  not  be 
begim  until  after  the  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal,  because 
many  business  men  firmly  believe  that  the  opening  of  the 
Canal  means  the  opening  of  very  great  opportunities.  The 
inhabitants  of  the  west  coast  are  likely  to  be  disappointed  in 
the  extent  of  the  prosperity  which  is  about  to  come  to  their 
shores.  At  the  same  time,  their  ardent  optimism  is  likely  to 
arouse  them  to  greater  economic  efforts.  The  psychologic 
effect  on  the  business  men  of  the  United  States  is  likely  to 
lead  them  to  believe  that  the  opening  of  the  (^anal  will  open 
to  them  a  new  market  and  will  make  it  possible  for  them  to 
secure  trade  in  regions  heretofore  inaccessible.  If  the  econ- 
omic and  geographic  foundations  exist  for  such  an  extension 
of  trade  as  will  follow  great  optimism  on  our  part,  then  the 
future  has  in  store  for  us  many  wonderfully  attractive  fea- 


232  HIRAJVI   BINGHAM 

tures.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  sufficient  broad  bases  do  not 
exist,  a  crash  is  bound  to  follow  unless  we  have  foreseen  the 
danger  and  avoided  going  further  than  we  are  warranted  in 
doing. 

The  geographic  bases  of  the  future  expansion  of  the  west 
coast  may  best  be  seen  bj^  a  careful  examination  of  the  phj^sio- 
graphic,  rainfall,  and  vegetation  maps  of  South  America. 
These  show  that  the  west  coast  is  a  narrow  strip  bounded  by 
lofty  mountains  and  the  ocean;  that  the  larger  part  is  not 
provided  with  adequate  rainfall,  but  is  really  a  desert;  and 
that  there  are  no  navigable  rivers  on  the  west  coast.  The 
great  well-watered  plains,  the  navigable  rivers,  the  enor- 
mous stretches  of  agricultural  and  ranch  land,  are  east  of 
the  wall  of  the  Andes.  It  almost  paralyzes  the  imagination 
to  attempt  to  estimate  the  enormous  development  which 
would  speedily  follow  the  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal  if  the 
geographical  conditions  of  South  America  were  reversed.  The 
tremendous  shortening  of  distances  which  is  going  to  take 
place  so  far  as  ocean  transportation  is  concerned,  will  not 
bring  the  great  bulk  of  South  America  one  day  nearer  than 
it  ever  has  been.  The  great  future  for  American  commerce 
and  investment  lies  in  Argentina  and  Brazil,  This  is  not 
saying  that  there  are  no  opportunities  on  the  west  coast, 
but  those  opportunities  are  chiefly  connected  with  the  de- 
velopment of  oil  fields  and  of  mines  of  copper,  tin,  and  ni- 
trate, and  the  building  of  railroads  in  connection  with  the 
development  of  mineral  industries. 

The  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal  will  enable  the  west 
coast  of  South  America  to  secure  necessary  machinery  and 
railroad  equipment  somewhat  more  cheaply,  but  probably 
the  saving  will  not  amount  to  more  than  $1  per  ton.  The 
greatest  benefit  so  far  as  the  United  States  is  concerned, 
will  be  in  the  ability  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  states  to  secure 
cheaper  fertilizer  from  the  nitrate  fields  of  Chile  and  to  se- 
cure a  nearer  market  for  their  own  manufactured  products. 
The  greatest  benefit  which  the  west  coast  will  receive  will 
be  in  lessening  the  time  it  takes  her  copper,  tin,  and  nitrates 
to  reach  Europe  and  America,  and  her  machinery  and  manu- 
factured articles  to  arrive.    The  saving  on  sliipments  which 


EFFECT  OF  THE  OPENING  OF  THE  PANAMA  CANAL  233 

have  heretofore  gone  by  the  Panama  Railroad  will  be  consid- 
erable, but  the  actual  saving  in  cost  on  each  shipment  which 
has  heretofore  gone  in  tramp  steamers  from  New  York 
through  the  Straights  of  Magellan  will  not  be  very  great  after 
the  Panama  Canal  tolls  have  been  paid.  It  is  possible  that 
this  saving  may  not  amount  in  many  cases  to  as  little  as 
50  cents  per  ton. 

The  more  cautious  the  American  manufacturer  and  cap- 
italist is,  the  less  will  he  lose  in  time  and  money,  and  the 
less  the  west  coast  will  lose  in  reputation  and  good  prospects. 
At  the  same  time,  it  is  undoubtedly  true  that,  Panama  Canal 
or  no  Panama  Canal,  the  west  coast  of  South  America  offers 
many  opportunities  to  American  manufacturers  and  capi- 
talists which  are  not  being  taken  advantage  of  today,  but 
which  are  likely  to  be  taken  advantage  of  in  the  future 
after  we  get  people  acquainted  with  the  west  coast.  The 
running  of  through  first-class  passenger  steamers  from  New 
York  to  Peru  and  Chile  by  the  Panama  Canal  will  un- 
doubtedly enormously  increase  travel  to  those  countries.  The 
intimate  knowledge  thus  gained  will  lead  to  an  extension  of 
trade  and  investment.  With  the  lack  of  delays  caused 
by  congestion  of  shipping  at  the  Isthmus  of  the  west  coast, 
merchants  will  be  encouraged  to  increase  their  purchases, 
since  they  will  be  able  to  count  on  the  date  of  delivery  with 
far  greater  exactitude  than  at  present. 

In  conclusion,  I  cannot  urge  too  strongly  the  necessity  for 
first-hand  investigation  of  the  field.  The  economic  condition 
of  each  west  coast  country  should  be  studied  from  the  point 
of  view  of  the  different  manufacturers  who  are  interested 
in  promoting  their  foreign  conmierce.  Millions  of  pounds 
sterling  have  been  invested  in  South  America  by  British 
capitahsts,  without  their  having  secured  adequate  return,  be- 
cause they  formerly  rushed  in  without  securing  first  hand 
knowledge  of  the  particular  fields  in  question.  It  is  not  to 
our  interest  nor  to  the  interest  of  the  west  coast  countries, 
to  have  an  infiated  boom  followed  by  disastrous  conclusions. 
At  the  same  time  there  is  no  question  that  the  American 
manufacturer  is  not  taking  full  advantage  of  the  oppor- 
tunities offered  him  by  the  actual  and  steady  economic  de- 


234  HIRAM   BINGHAM 

velopment  of  the  west  coast.  He  has  not,  as  a  rule,  made  a 
careful  study  of  things,  and  of  the  problematical  purchasing 
power  of  the  millions  of  Indians,  inhabiting  the  highlands  of 
Colombia,  Ecuador,  Peru  and  Bolivia.  German  manufac- 
turers are  far  ahead  of  him  in  this  particular  thing,  owing 
to  the  far  greater  number  of  German  wholesale  merchants  in 
the  mountain  cities  and  towns. 

While  it  is  true  that  the  opportunity  for  enormous  devel- 
opment is  far  greater  in  the  highlands  of  Brazil  and  on  the 
plains  of  Argentina  than  in  the  rocky  fastnesses  of  Chile  and 
Peru,  the  fact  remains  that  there  are  great  mineral  deposits 
awaiting  development,  and  awaiting  such  a  careful  study  of 
the  conditions  incident  to  their  development  as  will  overcome 
the  obstacles  placed  there  by  Nature,  and  make  possible 
the  extraction  of  these  minerals  economically  and  profit- 
ably. The  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal  will  allow  cargoes  of 
ore  to  be  brought  to  the  United  States  more  cheaply  than 
before.  This  will  stimulate  activity  at  the  mines  and  im- 
prove the  economic  status  of  the  laborer,  and  consequently 
increase  the  demand  for  manufactured  products  which  could 
be  exported  from  this  country. 

Finally,  if  the  American  manufacturer  and  exporter  will 
secure  first-hand  information  in  regard  to  the  peculiar  con- 
ditions of  the  various  countries,  and  will  not  expect  more 
than  Nature  gives  him  a  right  to  expect,  he  can  take  a  part 
in  the  development  and  up-building  of  the  economic  future 
of  the  west  coast,  which  will  bring  profit  to  himself,  credit 
to  his  country,  and  prosperity  to  the  west  coast.  Such  a  re- 
sult would  be  a  most  desirable  effect  of  the  opening  of  the 
Panama  Canal  on  our  relations  with  the  people  of  South 
America. 


sojme  of  the  obstacles  to  north 
american  trade  in  brazil . 

By  John  C.  Branner,  LL.D.,  President  of 
Stanford  University 

I  am  not  and  never  have  been  directly  interested  in  trade. 
During  the  ten  years  of  my  travels  in  Brazil  I  have  been  in 
the  employ  of  the  Brazilian  government  as  a  geologist,  or  I 
have  been  otherwise  engaged  in  the  study  of  the  geology 
and  natural  history  of  the  country.  My  travels,  however, 
have  taken  me  into  all  parts  of  the  country,  into  nearly 
every  one  of  the  Brazilian  states,  and  among  all  classes  of 
people.  WTiat  I  have  to  say  therefore  is  based  entirely  on 
my  own  observations  and  on  what  I  could  learn  from  the 
people  rather  than  upon  hearsay  or  upon  such  information 
as  one  can  pick  up  in  the  seaports  and  in  the  large  cities. 

I  cannot  undertake  to  discuss  or  even  to  mention  all 
of  the  obstacles  to  North  American  trade  in  Brazil  for 
the  reason  that  I  do  not  pretend  to  know  what  all  of  those 
obstacles  are.  In  the  brief  time  I  can  give  to  the  subject 
I  shall  only  ask  your  attention  to  such  obstacles  as  have 
come  to  my  attention  and  for  which  we  North  Americans 
are  ourselves  responsible. 

I  assume  at  the  outset  that  it  is  generally  known  that  Brazil 
exports  the  bulk  of  her  products  to  the  United  States,  and 
that  she  imports  the  bulk  of  foreign  supplies  from  Europe. 

These  facts  may  be  readily  gathered  from  statistics,  and 
they  may  be  seen  in  process  in  the  large  Brazilian  cities 
which  are  the  ports  of  entry  and  distributing  centers,  such 
as  Para,  Pernambuco,  Bahia,  Rio  de  Janeiro,  and  Santos. 
But  the  impression  that  one  gets  in  the  large  cities  where 
the  commission  merchants  are  well  supplied  with  samples, 
and  stand  ready  to  receive  orders  for  American  as  well  as 
for  European  goods,  are  not  nearly  as  convincing  as  that 

235 


236  JOHN   C.    BRANNER 

which  one  gets  on  the  frontier  of  trade,  that  is  in  the  shops 
of  the  small  dealers,  in  the  homes  of  the  planters  and  cattle 
growers,  and  in  the  humble  cabins  of  the  poor  fishermen, 
or  of  the  rubber  cutters  of  the  interior. 

The  shelves  of  the  Uttle  retail  shops  through  the  distant 
interior  of  Brazil  furnish  the  self-satisfied  North  American 
enlightening  visions  that  cannot  be  seen  or  appreciated  in 
the  up-to-date  shops  of  the  Rua  d'Ouvidor  or  on  the  fashion- 
able avenues  of  Rio  de  Janeiro.  For  these  Uttle  up-country 
shops  are  the  distributing  posts  for  everything  of  foreign 
manufacture  that  reaches  the  common  people  and  the  labor- 
ing classes  all  through  the  enormous  interior  of  that  country. 

The  commission  merchants  of  the  coast  cities  keep  all 
sorts  of  things,  many  of  which  may  seldom  or  never  be  sold. 
But  the  up-country  dealer  cannot  afford  to  pay  the  trans- 
portation on  mule-back  over  a  thousand  miles  of  almost 
impassable  bridle-paths  upon  things  that  there  is  any  doubt 
about  his  selling.  One  may  therefore  be  very  sure  that  the 
goods  in  the  retail  shops  of  the  interior  are  there  because 
the  dealer  knows  they  will  be  sold — that  there  is  a  sure 
market  for  them,  however  small  the  demand. 

In  such  a  place  one  usually  finds  the  following  articles  of 
North  American  manufacture:  kerosene  oil,  Singer  sewing 
machines,  cheap  clocks,  Ayres'  proprietary  medicines,  and 
Lanman  and  Kemp's  Florida  water.  Everything  else  is 
of  British,  German,  French,  Italian,  or  Portuguese  manu- 
facture. I  have  myself  seen  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  such 
stores. 

It  is  my  purpose  to  ask  your  attention  to  the  reasons  for 
this  state  of  affairs  as  they  appear  to  an  uncommercial  trav- 
eler, and  in  so  far  as  we  are  responsible  for  it. 

It  is  in  the  retail  shops  I  have  mentioned  that  one  fully 
realizes  what  some  of  the  obstacles  are  to  our  trade  with 
Brazil,  for  it  is  chiefly  in  them  that  some  of  these  obstacles 
are  operative. 

The  obstacles  to  North  American  trade  with  Brazil  that 
have  attracted  my  attention  on  the  ground  are  these: 

1.  Our  ignorance  and  indifference  to  the  language  of  the 
country. 


NORTH   AMERICAN   TRADE    IN    BR,\ZIL  237 

2.  Our  ignorance  of  and  indifference  to  the  customs  of  the 
people,  and  consequently  to  the  demands  of  the  trade. 

3.  Bad  packing  or  indilTerence  to  the  methods  of  trans- 
portation in  the  interior. 

4.  Indifference  to  the  credit  system  of  the  country'. 

5.  Our  lack  of  serious  intention  to  build  up  and  maintain 
permanent  business. 

6.  F'atal  and  unscrupulous  business  methods,  including 
the  sale  to  the  Brazilians  of  things  the  people  cannot  use 
and  should  not  buy. 

7.  Our  high  tariff  laws  which  render  competition  with 
other  countries  difficult. 

8.  Finally  I  shall  refer  briefly  to  what  are  often  spoken 
of  as  obstacles  to  trade,  namely  the  absence  of  American 
ships  and  American  banks. 

The  language.  The  language  of  Brazil  is  Portuguese,  but 
there  is  a  wide-spread  impression  in  this  country  that  the 
language  is  Spanish.  A  gi-eat  many  people  have  the  delu- 
sion that,  even  if  the  language  is  not  Spanish,  the  Spanish 
will  do  just  as  well.  I  assure  you  that  this  is  a  serious  and 
a  fatal  error.  It  is  true  that  Spanish  is  generally  under- 
stood along  the  frontier  with  Uruguay,  Bolivia,  and  Peru, 
just  as  it  is  in  this  country  along  the  Mexican  frontier,  but 
through  the  interior  and  over  the  great  body  of  the  country 
the  Spanish  language  is  as  httle  known  as  it  is  in  the  United 
States.  Over  and  over  again  I  have  seen  efforts  made  to 
sell  in  Brazil  articles  that  have  to  be  accompanied  by  printed 
directions,  as  in  case,  for  example,  of  medicines,  and  the 
directions  were  sent  out  in  Spanish. 

I  venture  the  guess  that  if  an  American  manufacturer 
wanted  to  send  a  traveling  salesman  to  work  up  trade  in  Bra- 
zil for  the  first  tune,  he  would,  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  sup- 
ply him  with  catalogues  printed  in  the  Spanish  language. 
I  venture  a  second  guess  that  the  aforesaid  manufacturer 
would  instinctively  look  for  a  salesman  who  understood 
Spanish.  And  I  venture  a  third  guess  that  the  Spanish 
speaking  salesman  with  the  Spanish  catalogues  would  make 
a  first  class  mess  of  any  business  he  might  attempt  in  Brazil. 

Persons  who   contemj)late   business  with    Brazil   cannot 


238  JOHN   C.   BRA>rNER 

attach  too  much  importance  to  the  Portuguese  language. 
And  by  Portuguese  I  do  not  mean  bad  Spanish,  nor  do  I 
mean  a  sailor's  vocabulary  of  unconjugated  verbs  and  un- 
declined  adjectives  and  articles.  I  mean  the  Portuguese 
language  grammatically  spoken.  The  merchants  of  Brazil 
are  generally  men  of  good  breeding,  and  they  resent  doing 
business  with  persons  whose  language  suggests  that  they 
belong  to  the  ignorant  classes. 

It  may  be  worth  noticing  in  this  connection  that  men  fam- 
iliar with  both  Portuguese  and  EngUsh  can  be  readily  found 
at  New  Bedford,  IMassachusetts,  and  about  Oakland  and 
Sacramento  in  California. 

Customs  of  the  country.  It  goes  without  saying  that,  like 
other  people,  the  Brazilians  have  some  customs  peculiarly 
their  own,  and  they  have  certain  others  that  are  peculiarly 
not  ours.  These  customs  lead  to  the  use  of  articles  that  are 
but  little  or  not  at  all  used  in  our  own  country.  In  study- 
ing the  market  conditions  in  Brazil  it  seems  clear  that  such 
matters  should  be  given  proper  consideration.  I  have 
found,  however,  among  some  of  the  hopeful  beginners  in 
the  BraziUan  field  the  impression  that  the  people  only  needed 
to  be  told  what  to  buy  and  they  would  buy  it;  that  they  only 
needed  to  be  reminded  that  this  is  all  the  fashion  in  the 
states.  But  Brazilians  are  conservative,  and  they  are  also 
human,  and  they  are  very  hke  some  of  us  in  this,  that  when 
they  are  buying  a  thing  they  like  to  buy  what  suits  them 
and  to  buy  it  of  the  size,  color  and  in  the  quantity  that  suits. 

I  once  found  that  in  a  certain  region  an  unsuccessful 
effort  had  been  made  to  introduce  American  calicoes.  The 
case  interested  me,  and  I  made  some  inquiries  about  it.  I 
found  that  the  American  cahco  was  regarded  as  superior  to 
the  British  article  being  sold  in  competition  with  it,  but  the 
American  calico  was  put  up  in  large  bolts,  while  the  British 
goods  were  done  up  and  sold  in  dress  pattern  bolts  of  a  defi- 
nite number  of  meters,  and  each  one  had  a  pretty  label  pasted 
on  it.  At  that  time  the  American  manufacturers  urged 
that  one  could  cut  off  from  the  American  bolt  as  many  or  as 
few  meters  as  were  wanted.     But  though  the  Americans  had 


NORTH   AMERICAN   TRADE   Hi   BRAZIL  239 

the  reasons  and  the  better  goods  on  then*  side,  the  British 
merchants  got  the  trade. 

In  this  connection  perhaps  I  should  note  that  the  metric 
system  is  legal  and  the  one  in  common  use  in  Brazil. 

Packing.  The  effect  of  indifference  to  proper  packing 
may  not  be  at  all  apparent  to  one  acquainted  only  with  the 
trade  in  the  sea-ports  and  along  the  railway  lines,  but  to  a 
person  familiar  with  the  roads  of  the  interior  packing  at  once 
seems  a  matter  of  prime  importance. 

It  should  not  be  forgotten  that  Brazil  is  an  enormously  big 
country — quite  as  big  as  the  United  States — that  the  rail- 
ways are  comparatively  few,  and  that  the  greater  part  of 
the  country  is  remote  from  them.  Wagon  roads  as  we  know 
them  in  the  United  States  cannot  be  said  to  exist  over  most 
of  the  interior,  though  they  are  extending  rapidly  in  the 
southern  states.  The  result  is  that  goods  going  into  the 
interior  ha\'e  to  travel  for  weeks  or  even  months  on  the  backs 
of  pack-mules.  There  is  absolutely  no  other  way  for  them 
to  be  moved. 

Goods,  in  order  to  reach  their  destination  in  the  interior, 
must  evidently  either  be  packed  for  shipment  at  the  factory, 
or  they  must  be  repacked  before  they  can  start  on  these  long 
overland  journeys. 

How  many  of  our  merchants  know  or  concern  themselves 
with  the  fact  that  goods  shipped  into  the  interior  of  Brazil 
should  be  so  done  up  that  two  packages  will  make  an  aver- 
age load  for  the  pack  animals;  that  these  loads  must  be  put 
on  and  taken  off  the  animals  at  lea.st  twice  a  day,  that  the 
packages  must  withstand  tropical  sunshine  and  be  exposed 
to  tropical  rains ;  that  they  must  be  strong  enough  to  be  un- 
hurt by  a  thousand  bumps  against  trees  and  rocks  along  the 
roads,  and  nmst  be  rolled  in  the  mud  and  dust  over  and  over 
again  before  they  reach  their  final  destination? 

The  European  merchants  know  these  things,  keep  them 
in  mind,  and  pack  the  goods  so  that  they  are  of  convenient 
sizes  and  weights  and  otherwise  proj)erly  conditioned.  The 
American  manufacturer  says  we  do  our  goods  up  in  boxes 
of  such  and  such  sizes,  shapes,  and  weights;  there  they  are; 


240  JOHN   C.   BRANNER 


take  'em  or  leave  'em.     And  what  wonder  is  it  that  the  Bra 
ziHans  leave  them? 

Credit  system.  The  methods  of  paying  for  merchandise 
are  not  the  same  in  Brazil  as  they  are  in  this  country.  I  do 
not  undertake  to  say  whether  the  credit  system  in  vogue  in 
that  country  is  good  or  bad,  nor  can  I  say  whether  it  is  pos- 
sible for  our  merchants  to  adjust  themselves  to  it.  But  I 
am  confident  that  if  our  merchants  want  to  do  business  with 
that  country  they  will  have  to  offer  the  BraziUans  the  same 
credits  that  European  merchants  offer.  It  may  help  us  un- 
derstand the  situation  to  say  that  part  of  the  European  sys- 
tem consists  in  charging  a  very  consoling  rate  of  interest  on 
bills. 

Lack  of  serious  intentions.  The  more  I  have  seen  of  oui 
spasmodic  efforts  to  get  hold  of  trade  in  Brazil  the  less  hope 
I  have  had  of  such  trade  coming  to  this  country.  A  wave 
of  enthusiasm  about  Brazilian  trade  occasionally  passes 
over  our  business  men.  They  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
a  virgin  field  there  awaits  our  energy  and  our  aggresssive 
up-to-date  methods.  This  enthusiasm  is  helped  consider- 
ably if  our  home  market  is  a  bit  dull.  A  traveling  salesman 
who  knows  a  little  Spanish  and  who  has  had  some  experience 
in  Mexico  perhaps,  is  hustled  off  with  a  good  Une  of  samples 
and  lots  of  catalogues — in  the  Spanish  language.  Perhaps 
the  salesman  spends  six  months  or  more  in  Brazil  and  by  hook 
and  by  crook  rounds  up  some  orders  and  sends  them  along. 
By  the  time  the  orders  reach  the  house  in  New  York,  the  en- 
thusiasm of  the  firm  has  cooled  down  considerably,  or  per- 
haps the  home  market  has  improved.  In  either  case  the 
orders  are  trifling  and  hardly  worth  bothering  about,  and 
they  are  filled  with  an  indifference  that  bodes  ill  for  future 
orders  for  American  goods  in  Brazil.  Right  here  is  one  of  the 
most  serious  obstacles  to  North  American  trade  in  Brazil. 

Such  conduct  may  not  make  any  great  difference  to  that 
one  firm,  for  it  may  never  interest  itself  further  in  Brazil, 
but  every  American  firm  that  follows  in  the  footsteps  of  its 
fellow  countryman  will  pay  dearly  for  his  indifference,  or 
his  sharp  practice. 

It  is  worth  while  to  contrast  such  methods  with  those  of 


I 


NORTH   AMERICAN   TRADE    IN    BRAZIL  241 

the  best  British  and  German  houses  doing  business  in  Brazil. 
These  houses  are  in  the  trade,  not  for  the  purpose  of  getting 
out  of  it  as  soon  as  possible  and  with  a  big  rake-off,  but  for 
the  purpose  of  staying  in  it  for  life,  and  of  building  up  an 
honored  firm  and  passing  it  down  to  future  generations  with 
an  unsullied  reputation  for  integrity  and  fair  dealing.  Such 
houses  usually  have  several  branches;  perhaps  the  parent 
house  is  in  London  with  branches  in  ]Manchester,  Birming- 
ham, Pard,  Pernambuco,  Bahia,  Rio  de  Janiero,  Santos, 
and  S.  Paulo.  It  is  the  custom  of  the  Pernambuco  branch, 
let  us  say,  to  have  a  young  man  sent  out  from  England  from 
time  to  time.  This  young  man  starts  in  at  the  bottom,  he 
learns  the  Portuguese  language,  and  gradually  works  his 
way  up  from  the  lowest  rank  to  a  good  place  in  the  Pernam- 
buco house.  Perhaps  he  is  then  transferred  to  the  Rio 
branch,  and  remains  there  until  he  comes  to  be  the  manager 
of  that  branch.  In  due  time  he  is  promoted  to  the  ^lan- 
chester  or  London  branch,  and  he  may  come  to  be  the  head 
of  the  firm.  Behind  this  man  is  a  procession  of  young  Eng- 
hshmen  traveling  ahnost  identically  the  same  road.  Every- 
one of  them  speaks  the  Portuguese  language,  every  one  of 
them  is  perfectly  acquainted  with  the  business  customs  of 
Brazil,  and  knows  what  is  wanted  in  the  market  and  why  it 
is  wanted.  They  have  relations  established  with  the  whole- 
sale and  retail  dealers  within  their  respective  territories,  and 
they  keep  in  living  touch  with  the  business  of  the  entire 
country. 

I  recommend  our  merchants  and  manufacturers  to  seri- 
ously ask  themselves  whether  they  think  they  can  compete 
successfully  in  the  Brazilian  market  with  houses  built  up 
by  such  methods.  Of  course  there  is  no  reason  whj'  they 
should  not  compete;  but  such  competition  must  be  taken 
seriousl}'',  and  the  British  merchants  must  be  met  on  their 
own  high  ground.  When  our  merchants  enter  the  Brazilian 
market  with  the  intention  of  staying  in  it  for  generations, 
and  with  the  intention  of  winning  their  way  by  studying 
the  market,  by  dealing  honorably,  and  b}^  giving  the  people 
all  they  can  afford  to  give  them  for  their  money,  they'll  gain 
a  foothold,  and  they  will  not  gain  it  before. 


242  JOHN   C.    BRANNER 

Unscrupulous  business  methods.  An  honest  merchant 
may  well  protest  that  he  is  not  concerned  with  unscrupulous 
methods  in  trade  because  he  does  not  practice  them  and  does 
not  allow  them  to  be  practised  in  his  business.  But  such  a 
man  and  ever}'  honest  man  is  made  to  suffer  and  to  pay  dearly 
for  the  wrong  methods  of  those  who  precede  them  in  the 
field.  Of  course  unscrupulous  methods  may  embrace  any 
kind  of  wrong  done  the  people  with  whom  we  have  to  deal.  I 
recall  a  choice  lot  of  examples  that  have  come  to  my  atten- 
tion early  and  late.  The  less  said  of  them  the  better.  But 
there  is  one  variety  to  which  I  refer  that  is  quite  too  often 
regarded  as  perfectly  legitimate.  T  refer  to  the  selling  to  the 
BraziUans  of  things  they  cannot  use  without  some  sort  of 
instruction  and  direction,  and  the  failure  to  supply  that 
instruction. 

One  case  out  of  the  several  that  came  to  my  attention  will 
show  my  meaning. 

The  representative  of  a  firm  of  American  manufacturers 
of  agricultural  implements  got  the  ear  of  a  BraziUan  planter, 
and  by  means  of  attractive  pictures  and  glowing  accounts 
of  what  plows  can  do,  persuaded  the  planter  to  buy  a  gang 
plow.  I  should  add  that  the  pictures  were  not  misleading, 
nor  were  the  stories  about  the  plows  exaggerated,  nor  was 
the  price  umeasonable.  Apparently  all  dealings  were  per- 
fectly correct.  WTien  the  plow  reached  Brazil  there  was 
no  one  on  the  plantation  or  in  the  vicinity,  or  probably  in 
the  whole  state,  who  knew  anything  about  a  gang  plow. 
They  managed  to  get  it  put  together  after  a  fashion  and  then 
the  question  was  how  to  draw  it.  There  was  not  an  animal 
on  the  place  that  had  ever  worked  in  harness,  and  there  were 
no  harnesses,  and  even  if  there  had  been,  the  horses  and  mules 
were  all  too  light  for  such  service.  The  result  was  that  the 
plow  was  necessarily  abandoned,  and  the  planter  does  not 
know  to  this  day  whether  he  or  the  salesman  is  responsible 
for  the  money  he  lost  in  the  transaction. 

I  imagine  that  there  may  be  a  difference  of  opinion  in  re- 
gard to  cases  of  this  kind,  but  I  can  make  my  own  views 
clearer  perhaps  by  citing  another  instance  that  was  dealt 
with  differently  and  with  different  results. 


NORTH   AMERICAN   TRADE   IN   BRAZIL  243 

Many  years  ago  tlie  Baldwin  Locomotive  Works  of  Phila- 
delphia got  an  order  for  a  locomotive  to  go  to  Brazil.  The 
maniifactm'crs  took  special  pains  to  see  that  the  locomotive 
sent  was  capable  of  doing  the  work  reqiired  of  it,  and  that  it 
was  as  sound  and  trustworthy  in  every  respect  as  they  could 
make  it.  And  do  you  suppose  they  then  shipped  it  out  and 
left  the  Brazilians  to  set  it  up  and  run  it?  Not  a  bit  of  it. 
They  sent  out  with  the  locomotive  a  skilled  mechanic  from 
their  own  shops  whose  business  it  was  to  take  charge  of  the 
landing  of  the  locomotive,  to  set  it  up  properly,  to  start  it, 
and  to  teach  the  Brazilain  engine  driver  how  to  run  it,  and 
to  stay  with  him  until  the  lesson  was  thoroughly  and  properly 
learned. 

As  might  be  expected,  the  locomotive  gave  perfect  satis- 
faction, and  lead  to  a  large  and  profitable  business  for  the 
Baldwin  Locomotive  Works  that  has  gone  on  now  for  nearly 
seventy  years. 

But  that  company  has  never  let  up  for  a  single  day  in  its 
vigilant  attention  to  its  locomotives  and  to  the  interests  of 
its  Brazihan  patrons.  The  result  was  that  for  a  long  period 
of  years  you  could  hardly  give  awa}^  in  Brazil  any  locomotive 
that  was  not  a  Baldwin. 

High  tariff  in  the  United  States.  I  have  no  idea  of  dis- 
cussing taiiff  laws.  I  merely  call  attention  to  the  fact  that 
inasmuch  as  our  tariff  laws  have  raised  the  cost  of  many  of  our 
manufactured  articles,  it  follows  that  those  articles  cannot 
be  sold  in  the  open  competition  of  the  Brazilian  mai'kets. 
All  such  goods  are  shut  out  of  Brazil,  and  must  remain  shut 
out  until  our  manufacturers  can  compete  with  those  of  other 
f'ni  in  tries. 

There  are  some  anomolous  cases,  however,  in  which  the 
.Vnierican  manufacturers'  profits  are  so  large  that  they  are 
quite  able  to  compete  with  European  manufacturers  in  the 
Brazilian  markets.  I  have  noted  that  certain  .Vmerican 
made  sewing  machines  for  example,  are  sold  at  much  lower 
prices  in  Brazil  than  they  are  in  the  I'nitcd  States. 

The  question  of  American  banks.  Over  and  over  again  I 
have  heard  it  urged  that  the  lack  of  .American  banks  in  Bra- 
zil was  a  constant  obstacle  to  American  trade  in  that  country. 


244  JOHN    C.    BRANNER 

I  can  only  ofifer  an  opinion  on  this  subject,  based  on  much 
observation,  and  some  experience. 

That  opinion  is  that  if  there  were  American  banks  in  Bra- 
zil the  great  bulk  of  their  business  would  be  just  what  the 
existing  British  banks  are  doing.  The  bulk  of  Brazil's  ex- 
ports goes  to  New  York,  but  the  exporters  do  not  want 
their  money  either  in  Brazil  or  in  New  York;  they  want  it 
in  London  where  they  can  buy  merchandise  with  it. 

If  there  were  American  banks  in  Brazil  the  situation  would 
not  be  changed.  If  an  American  bank  were  called  on  to 
handle  the  finances  of  a  coffee  crop  that  bank  would  have 
to  pay  for  the  crop  in  London  and  nowhere  else. 

Lack  of  American  ships  and  steamers.  Very  similar  are 
the  opinions  in  regard  to  the  lack  of  American  ships  and 
American  hues  of  steamers.  Some  people  seem  to  think 
that  we  might  gather  in  a  lot  of  trade  with  Brazil  if  only 
there  were  American  ships  to  carry  things  back  and  forth. 
But  I  have  noticed  that,  in  pratice,  the  merchants  both  in 
Rio  de  Janiero  and  in  New  York,  other  things  being  equal, 
ship  by  vessels  that  can  carry  their  merchandise  most  cheaj)- 
ly.  They  are  not  influenced  to  any  appreciable  extent  by 
matters  of  sentiment. 

If  we  had  so  many  ships  that  their  competition  for  trade 
reduced  the  freight  rates  below  those  asked  by  British  or 
other  ships,  then,  and  then  only,  would  our  ships  get  the 
carrying  trade. 


AMERICAN  INTERVENTION  IN  CENTRA] 

AMERICA 

^hilip  Marshall  Brown,  Assistant-Professor  of  Interna'  -^ 
tional  Law  and  Diplomacy,  Princeton  University; 
formerly  American  Minister  to  Honduras 


Since  1906  Central  America  has  had  two  wars,  three  suc- 
cessful revolutions  and  five  abortive  uprisings,  not  including 
several  conspiracies  to  assassinate  the  President  of  Guate- 
mala or  recent  plots  in  Nicaragua  for  the  overthrow  of  the 
revolutionary  government  which  supplanted  the  Zelaya 
regime. 

During  this  turbulent  period  the  policy  of  the  United 
States  has  developed  by  progressive  steps  from  simple  media- 
tion, to  direct  intervention  in  the  internal  affairs  of  these 
republics.  Our  government  has  been  almost  incessantly 
occupied  with  the  difficult  task  of  trying  to  reconcile  their 
differences,  head  off  revolutions,  avert  war  and  facilitate  the 
return  of  peace.  We  have  come  to  realize  that  in  order  to 
prevent  intervention  on  plausible  grounds  by  European 
powers,  the  obligation  of  securing  more  stable  conditions  in 
Central  .Vmerica  for  the  protection  of  all  interests,  logically 
devolves  on  the  United  States.  This  has  become  a  most 
embarrassing  problem  and  we  are  constantly  reminded  that: 

When  constabulary  duty  's  to  be  done, 
The  policeman's  life  is  not  a  happy  one. 

In  June  1906, President  Roosevelt  with  the  cooperation  of 
President  Diaz  acted  as  mediator  between  Guatemala  on  the 
one  side,  and  Salvador  and  Honduras  on  the  other,  to  termi- 
nate the  brief  war  then  in  progress.  The  treaty  of  peace 
signed  on  board  the  American  gunl)oat  Mnrblehead  submitted 
all  differences  to  the  arbitration  of  the  two  mediators  and, 
moreover,  invoked  their  moral  guarantee  for  the  fulfillment 
of  the  provisions  of  the  treaty.     This  direct  recognition  of 

245 


246  PHILIP   MARSHALL   BROWN 

the  obligation  of  the  United  States  to  mediate  and  intervene 
in  their  affairs  was  assented  to  by^  all  of  the  five  republics 
with  the  exception  of  the  government  of  President  Zelaya, 
who  desired  a  free  hand  for  the  carrying  out  of  his  ambi- 
tious schemes  to  dominate  Central  America. 

The  friendly  mediation  of  the  United  States  was  insuffi- 
cient to  deter  Zelaya  from  making  war  in  February,  1907, 
against  the  government  of  President  Bonilla  in  Honduras 
though  it  was  able  to  prevent  the  conflict's  spreading  to 
Salvador  and  Guatemala.  American  warships  actively  in- 
tervened on  both  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  coasts  of  Hon- 
duras to  protect  foreign  interests  and  prevent  the  needless 
destruction  of  life  and  property.  In  August  of  the  same 
year,  the  American  government  was  able  by  strenuous  diplo- 
matic representations  to  avert  war  between  Nicaragua  and 
Salvador.  But  it  was  evident  that  more  definite  and  effec- 
tive measures  would  have  to  be  adopted  to  preserve  peace  in 
Central  America. 

On  the  initiative  of  President  Roosevelt,  a  peace  confer- 
ence of  the  five  republics  was  held  in  Washington  from 
November  13  to  December  20,  1907.  The  work  of  this  con- 
ference, consisting  of  several  conventions  on  various  sub- 
jects, was  received  with  considerable  optimism.  It  was 
believed  by  many  that  the  basis  had  been  laid  for  permanent 
peace.  The  key  to  the  whole  structure  was  the  Central 
American  Court  of  Justice  to  which  all  controversies  of 
whatever  nature  were  to  be  brought  for  final  adjudication. 
It  was  heralded  as  a  triumph  for  the  cause  of  compulsory 
arbitration  between  nations;  and  Mr.  Carnegie  was  induced 
to  provide  the  court  with  a  beautiful  building  at  Cartago, 
Costa  Rica.  Those  familiar  with  conditions  in  Central 
America,  however,  were  not  misled  by  the  palliative  meas- 
ures adopted  by  the  Washington  conference.  They  realized 
that  remedies  on  paper,  without  provisions  for  practical 
application  and  enforcement,  were  nothing  but  mockeries. 
The  first  decision  of  the  Court  of  Justice,  in  a  controversy 
between  Honduras  and  Guatemala,  was  greeted  with  general 
derision.  It  was  evident  that  the  composition  of  the  court 
was  largely  political;  and  that  no  means  existed  for  enforcing 


AMERICAN  INTERVENTION  IN  CENTIL\L  AMERICA        247 

respect  for  its  decisions.  Conditions  in  these  countries  con- 
tinued as  disturbed  as  ever  and  Zelaya  showed  his  cynical 
contempt  for  the  Washington  conventions  by  launching  a 
fiUbustering  expedition  against  Salvador  in  February,  1909. 

By  this  time  the  American  government  was  thoroughly 
convinced  that  the  Washington  conventions  were  of  no  value 
unless  literally  enforced  and  it  reluctantly  came  to  the  con- 
clusion that  it  must  be  prepared  to  forcibly  prevent  any 
further  depredations  by  the  Zelaya  government.  This  de- 
cision was  a  momentous  departure  from  the  policy  of  non- 
intervention hitherto  scrupulously  observed,  though  it  was 
the  logical  step  in  the  fulfillment  of  the  obligations  of  the 
United  States,  not  only  in  behalf  of  all  foreign  interests,  but 
also  towards  the  people  of  Central  America. 

The  revolution  on  the  Atlantic  coast  of  Nicaragua  in  Oc- 
tober, 1909,  and  the  unjustifiable  execution  of  the  two  Ameri- 
cans, Cannon  and  Groce,  by  order  of  Zelaya,  compelled  the 
United  States  to  again  intervene  directly  in  Central  Ameri- 
can affairs.  Zelaya  was  obliged  to  flee  and  the  revolution- 
ists were  able  ultimately  to  triumph.  Another  development 
in  American  policy  was  the  agreement  of  our  government  to 
assist  the  new  government  in  Nicaragua  in  the  rehabilitation 
of  the  finances  of  that  country. 

A  treaty  was  negotiated  with  the  Nicaraguan  government 
by  Secretary  Knox,  giving  the  United  States  the  right,  as 
in  Santo  Domingo,  to  act  virtually  as  the  receiver  and 
guardian  of  the  customs  revenues.  Although  this  treaty 
was  not  ratified  by  the  Senate,  the  arrangement  itself  was 
carried  through  and  American  officials  designated  by  the 
United  States  now  control  in  large  part  the  finances  of 
Nicaragua.  Furthermore  during  a  formidable  revolution  in 
August  and  September  of  1912,  the  United  States  landed 
troops  in  Nicaragua  at  the  request  of  the  Nicaraguan  Gov- 
ernment for  the  announced  purpose  of  protecting  American 
lives  and  property,  maintaining  a  legation  guard,  and  pre- 
serving free  communication  with  the  legation.  The  national 
railroad  which  had  been  hypothecated  as  guarantee  of  an 
American  loan  to  the  government,  was  operated  under  the 
protection  of  American  soldiers.     A  considerable  force  was 


248  PHILIP   MARSHALL   BROWTs^ 

dispatched  to  Managua,  the  capital,  and  actually  aided  the 
government  to  repell  and  frustrate  the  revolution,  which 
otherwise  would  have  in  all  probability  succeeded.  Several 
American  soldiers  were  killed  during  these  operations. 

The  government  at  ]\Ianagua,  which  owed  its  continued 
existence  to  American  support,  subsequently  signed  another 
treaty  with  Secretary  Knox,  whereby  Nicaragua  agreed  to 
allow  the  United  States  the  sole  rights  to  the  construction 
of  any  canal  across  Nicaragua,  as  well  as  a  coaling  station 
in  the  Gulf  of  Fonseca  in  return  for  assistance  for  the 
rehabiUtation  of  its  finances.  This  treaty  has  been  approved 
by  President  Wilson's  administration,  and  is  still  awaiting 
action  bj"  the  Senate. 

The  formidable  revolution  headed  by  Ex-President  Bon- 
illa,  which  threatened  to  sweep  the  whole  of  Honduras  in 
February  of  the  present  year,  was  again  the  occasion  for  the 
direct  intervention  of  the  United  States.  British  and  Ameri- 
can marines  were  landed  at  Puerto  Cortes  which  was  de- 
clared neutral  ground  where  hostilities  would  not  be  per- 
mitted. The  inland  town  of  San  Pedro  Sula,  at  the  end  of 
the  railroad  leading  from  Puerto  Cortes,  was  also  occupied 
and  administered  by  the  joint  forces.  The  two  rival  fac- 
tions, that  of  the  government  and  that  of  General  Bonilla, 
were  notified  that  further  disturbance  and  bloodshed  would 
not  be  allowed  and  that  some  peaceful  solution  of  their 
differences  should  be  found.  The  apparently  happy  result 
of  this  intervention  was  the  choice  of  a  provisional  president 
agreeable  to  both  factions  and  a  peaceful  change  of  govern- 
ment with  the  prospect  of  an  orderly,  free  election  in  the 
near  future.  The  department  of  state  at  the  same  time 
announced  the  readiness  of  the  United  States  to  lend  its 
good  offices  in  support  of  certain  measures  for  the  refunding 
of  the  national  debt  of  Honduras. 

A  treaty  similar  to  the  earlier  treaty  originally  negotiated 
with  Nicarauga,  was  also  negotiated  by  Secretary  Knox  with 
Honduras,  but  likewise  failed  of  ratification.  The  govern- 
ment of  Honduras  has  since  been  endeavoring  to  find  a  way 
to  meet  its  foreign  indebtedness  without  being  compelled 
to  resort  to  an  American  receivership. 


AMERICAN  INTERVENTION  IN  CENTRAL  AMERICA         249 

From  the  preceding  rapid  survey  of  recent  events  in  Cen- 
tral America,  two  important  facts  are  to  be  emphasized: 
first,  that  from  a  poHcy  of  scrupulous  non-intervention  in 
the  affairs  of  these  republics,  the  United  States  has  been 
unwillingly  lead  into  a  policy  of  direct  intervention;  and 
second,  that  these  interventions  have  become  as  startlingly 
frequent  as  they  have  become  increasingly  embarrassing  in 
their  nature.  The  question  which  naturally  arises  at  this 
point  is  whether  it  is  fitting  and  necessary  that  the  attention 
of  our  government  should  be  so  constantly  occupied  with  the 
domestic  concerns  of  these  countries:  whether  this  "con- 
stabulary duty"  of  keeping  the  peace  between,  and  even 
within,  these  states,  can  long  be  maintained  without  great 
embarrassment  and  disagreeable  complications:  whether, 
in  sum,  intervention  in  their  internal  affairs  is  the  only  possi- 
ble solution  of  the  problem. 

Certain  of  the  delegates  at  the  Washington  conference  of 
1907  signed  the  conventions  with  frank  misgivings.  They 
felt  that  such  measures  were  only  of  a  temporizing  character 
and  that  the  conference  had  failed  in  its  opportunity  to  adopt 
a  definite,  radical  remedy  for  the  political  ailments  of  Cen- 
tral America.  In  a  special  statement  submitted  to  the 
Conference,  the  delegates  from  Honduras  and  Nicaragua 
expressed  their  doubts  as  follows: 

We  hope  that  the  establishment  of  the  Central  American  Court 
of  Justice,  agreed  upon  in  the  most  important  of  our  conventions, 
sliall  for  the  time  Ijeing  be  the  key  to  our  political  structure  and 
shall  remedy  to  a  great  extent  our  evils  and  shall  prevent  war  in 
the  future.  We  believe,  however,  that  it  does  not  suffice  to  satisfy 
the  sentiment  and  aspirations  of  the  C'entral  American  people,  and 
that  witliin  a  short  time  it  will  be  felt,  through  the  free  trend  of - 
opinion  and  through  the  oln'ious  relation  of  our  public  needs,  iiuw 
essential  is  a  more  intimate  and  complete  amalgamation  (Foreign 
Relations,  1907.  p.  727). 

In  a  separate  statement  the  Honduran  minister  for  for- 
eign affairs  also  declared: 

proceeding  with  loyal  frankness,  we  must  agree  that  if 
it  is  indeed  true  that  by  the  creation  of  that  court  we  have  taken  an 
advanced  step  toward  the  wcllbeing  and  the  good  name  of  the 
countries  we  represent,  by  this  step  alone  we  have  not  assured  the 


250  PHILIP   MARSHALL   BROWN 

positive  and  fruitful  peace  of  Central   America In 

this  sense  and  obeying  impulses  of  the  most  sincere  patriotism,  I 
make  known  here  the  profound  conviction  which  continual  poli- 
tical deceptions  have  rooted  in  my  mind,  that  the  union  of  the  five 
republics  in  one  single  nation  becomes  necessary  as  the  only  saving 
means  that  is  to  lead  our  peoples  without  new  obstacles  or  anxieties 
along  the  same  path  of  progress  that  has  led  the  United  States  and 
Mexico  to  the  height  of  prosperity  they  now  enjoy  (Foreign  Rela- 
tions, 1907,  p.  722). 

With  earnestness  and  abilitj^  the  representatives  from 
Honduras  and  Nicaragua  labored  to  convince  the  other 
delegates  of  the  supreme  necessity  of  bringing  about  the 
union  of  the  five  republics.  They  pointed  out  that  the  re- 
establishment  of  the  federation  of  Central  America  was  the 
fundamental  feature  of  their  political  existence,  so  acknowl- 
edged and  declared  in  several  of  their  constitutions.  They 
insisted  that  no  great  sociological  or  other  differences  ex- 
isted between  the  states  of  Central  America:  that  "Cen- 
tral American  wars  have  never  been  armed  conflicts  between 
peoples,  but  between  governments:  that  no  territorial  con- 
quests have  ever  taken  place :  no  war  indemnities  or  humil- 
iating reparations  have  ever  been  imposed  by  one  people 
upon  the  other  as  an  abuse  of  victory. "  They  drew  atten- 
tion to  ''the  opposition  of  interests,  of  political  tendencies 
and  reciprocal  jealousies  in  matters  of  predominance"  in 
the  Philadelphia  Convention  of  1787:  how  "some  states  had 
their  social  status  organized  according  to  democratic  princi- 
ples :  in  other  states  a  powerful  aristocracy  reigned  supreme : 
some  were  agriculturists:  others  were  devoted  to  industrial 
pursuits:  some  favored  slavery  and  others  had  marked 
aversion  for  it:"  how  the  Philadelphia  Convention,  "be- 
lieving that  all  those  differences  were  not  incompatible  with 
the  political  union,  devoted  its  efforts  to  find  a  rule  of  law 
to  harmonize  all  opposing  tendencies,  systems,  and  inter- 
ests, and  to  attain  the  prevalence  of  the  Union  over  all 
opposition." 

These  arguments  were  of  no  avail  and  the  majority  of  the 
delegates  at  the  Washington  conference  summarized  their 
views  as  follows: 


AMERICAN  INTERVENTION  IN  CENTRAL  AMERICA         251 

.  .  .  while  they  consider  the  political  union  of  Central 
America  as  the  greatest  and  noblest  aspiration  of  patriotism,  they 
likewise  think  that  the  circumstances  and  conditions  in  which  the 
Central  American  people  find  themselves  at  the  moment  are  not 
propitious  to  decree  national  reconstruction,  which,  in  order  that 
it  may  be  durable  and  solid,  requires  that  their  economic,  moral, 
political  and  material  elements  shall  have  been  harmonized. 

They  do  not  think  therefore  that  it  is  opportune  to  discuss  in 
the  present  conference  a  project  for  the  immediate  establishment 
of  a  union,  but  solely  those  measures  which  will  tend  toward  pre- 
paring in  a  stable  manner  for  this  union,  strengthening  their 
means  of  communications,  establishing  a  coasting  ship  commerce 
linking  tog(^ther  the  economic  and  social  interests  of  the  people  of 
the  Republics,  unifying  their  customs  and  tax  laws,  and  encourag- 
ing the  frequent  meeting  of  Central  American  conferences.  .  .  . 
The  steps  here  taken  toward  making  peace  certain  in  Central 
America,  toward  guaranteeing  security  for  capital  and  labor,  to- 
ward improving  their  elements  of  production,  their  social  interests, 
and  their  initiative  in  self-goverrmient,  will  contribute  in  no  small 
part  towards  this  end  (Foreign  Relations,  1907,  p.  672). 

Before  testing  the  soundness  of  this  point  of  view  it  is 
desirable  to  recapitulate  briefly  the  main  facts  regarding  the 
old  Central  .\inerican  federation  as  well  as  the  various  fruit- 
less attempts  for  its  restoration.  When  the  Spanish  prov- 
inces of  Central  .Ajnerica  seceeded  peacefully  in  1824,  they 
naturally  gravitated  together  in  a  loose  federal  union,  follow- 
ing the  traditions  of  the  "Audiencia  Real"  of  Guatemala 
under  which  they  had  previously  been  grouped.  During  the 
latter  years  of  Spanish  rule,  especially  after  the  Constitution 
of  1812  which  was  signed  by  deputies  from  the  five  provinces, 
they  had  enjoyed  a  large  measure  of  self-government.  Each 
province  and  town  was  at  liberty  to  elect  its  own  "ayunta- 
miento ' '  or  council .  In  fact,  it  may  fairly  be  asserted  that  at 
no  subsequent  time  has  Central  America  had  as  great  privi- 
leges of  self-government  as  during  the  latter  years  of  Spanish 
domination.  Owing,  however,  to  this  strongly  developed 
provincial  sentiment,  to  the  extremely  loose  federal  form  of 
union  and  to  the  intense  rivalries  of  political  leaders  for  pre- 
dominance both  in  the  federation  and  in  the  separate  states, 
tliis  union  proved  to  be  a  fiction  and  was  dissolved  after  a 
nominal  existence  of  fifteen  years.  The  wonder  is  that  it 
lasted  as  long.  There  was  no  external  pressure  in  the  form  of 
a  coimnon  enemy,  nor  was  there  a  deep  sense  of  community 


252  PHILIP   MARSHALL   BROWN 

of  interests  to  hold  the  states  together.  Their  separate 
existence  for  the  past  seventy  years,  with  almost  incessant 
wars  and  revolutions,  has  only  served  to  retard  their  devel- 
opment and  foster  prejudices  which  have  no  solid  grounds 
on  which  to  rest.     In  their  division  has  been  their  weakness. 

Since  1839  efforts  to  restore  the  union  have  been  made 
from  time  to  time;  and  whenever  the  project  is  suggested  it 
is  natural  that  sceptics  should  object  that,  while  the  idea  is 
laudable,  it  is  impossible  of  realization.  This  pessimistic 
point  of  view,  however,  is  open  to  the  charge  of  super- 
ficiality for  the  reason  that,  while  it  is  true  there  have  been 
various  attempts  to  re-establish  the  union,  in  actual  fact, 
there  never  has  been  any  serious,  well  calculated  under- 
taking, properly  supported  in  such  a  way  as  to  guarantee 
success.  It  is  worth  while,  therefore,  to  consider  briefly 
certain  of  these  movements  for  union,  which  represent  the 
three  methods  usually  employed :  namely,  that  of  diplomacy 
under  the  initiative  of  the  United  States,  in  1874,  1881  and 
1883,  that  by  force  of  arms,  resorted  to  bj'  President  Barrios 
in  1885,  and  that  through  alliance,  attempted  by  the  presi- 
dents of  Honduras,  Nicaragua  and  Salvador  in  1896. 

In  1874  the  American  minister  to  Central  America  was 
instructed  to  use  his  good  offices  to  bring  together  the  presi- 
dents of  the  five  republics  in  order  to  settle  existing  differ- 
ences and  lay  the  foundations  of  a  permanent  union.  ^linis- 
ter  Williams'  efforts  in  this  direction,  were,  however,  without 
definite  result.  The  diplomatic  discussions  produced  little 
more  than  a  platonic  recognition  of  the  desirability'  of  the 
union.  The  matter  was  taken  up  again  in  1881  and  1883. 
General  Grant  in  his  reception  of  the  diplomatic  representa- 
tive from  Guatemala  and  Salvador  in  August,  1880,  ex- 
pressed his  sincere  hope  for  the  federal  union  of  Central 
America.  Secretary  Blaine  in  a  comprehensive  dispatch  to 
the  American  minister  at  Guatemala,  under  date  of  IMay  7, 
1881,  manifested  the  keen  interest  with  which  the  United 
States  viewed  all  attempts  to  establish  a  union.  He  also 
indicated  that  the  government  at  Washington  would  be 
gratified  to  learn  of  "some  directly  practicable  method  by 
which  the  United  States  could  aid  in  the  establishment  of  a 


AMERICAN  INTERVENTION  IN  CENTRAL  AMERICA         253 

strong  and  settled  union  between  the  independent  repub- 
lics of  Central  America."  The  subject  was  again  recurred 
to  in  1883  but  the  diplomatic  negotiations  were  of  a  purely 
tentative  character. 

In  1885,  General  Hufino  Barrios,  president  of  Guatemala, 
a  man  of  conmianding  personality,  who  clearly  understood 
the  needs  of  Central  America,  attempted  to  bring  about  the 
union  by  coercive  measures.  After  vain  efforts  of  a  pacific 
character  to  persuade  the  other  states  to  join  together,  he 
proclaimed  the  union;  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  his 
troops  and  summoned  the  remaining  republics  to  give  their 
immediate  adherence.  In  the  first  battle  with  the  Salva- 
dorian  army,  BarriOs  was  killed,  and  with  him  ended  all 
hope  of  accomplishing  the  union  through  the  force  of  arms. 

The  last  attempt  to  restore  the  union  was  in  1896  when  the 
presidents  of  Honduras,  Nicaragua  and  Salvador  united  to 
form  the  Greater  Republic  of  Central  America.  Neither 
Guatemala  nor  Costa  Rica  would  join:  the  former  appar- 
ently from  motives  of  distrust,  and  the  latter  because  of  its 
traditional  policy  of  isolation.  Though  recognized  by  the 
United  States,  this  greater  republic  was  hardly  more  than  a 
fiction.  It  was  essentially  a  personal  alliance  of  the  rulers  of 
the  respective  republics;  and  was  dissolved  by  mutual  con- 
sent after  a  nominal  existence  of  three  years.  As  was  sen- 
sibly remarked  by  General  Regalado  of  Salvador,  whose 
opposition  wrecked  the  scheme,  "This  union  is  the  work  of  a 
few  men,  not  the  desire  of  the  people. " 

Of  the  three  methods  employed  to  establish  the  union; 
namel}',  force,  alliance  and  diplomacy,  the  latter  alone  has 
not  been  thoroughly  tested.  The  United  States,  though 
committed  in  principle  to  the  ideal  of  the  union,  has  taken 
no  positive  steps  in  this  direction.  It  has  contented  itself, 
as  already  indicated,  with  expressions  of  sympathy'  with  the 
project  and  tentative  negotiations  designed  merely  to  sound 
the  sentiments  of  the  different  Central  American  govern- 
ments. In  fact,  since  the  pourparlers  of  Secretary  Blaine 
begun  in  1881  and  abandoned  in  1883,  the  idea  of  restoring 
the  union  through  diplomatic  means  has  almost  entirely  re- 
mained in  abeyance.     In  the  meantime,  the  United  States 


254  PHILIP   MARSHALL   BROWN 

has  felt  compelled  to  seek  the  maintenance  of  peace  and 
the  remedy  for  the  ills  of  Central  America  through  friendlj'- 
mediation  and  constabulary  measures,  and  has  now  arrived 
at  the  point  of  positive  intervention  in  the  internal  affairs 
of  these  republics.  In  spite  of  the  inevitable  failure  of 
such  a  temporizing  policy,  it  may  be  admitted  that  it  was 
doubtless  necessary  to  exhaust  all  possible  expedients,  in 
dealing  patiently  and  cautiously  with  so  abnormal  a  situa- 
tion, in  order  to  demonstrate  conclusively  their  entire  inade- 
quacy and  the  necessity  of  a  thorough,  statesmanlike  solu- 
tion of  the  problem. 

It  can  hardly  be  denied  that  intervention  in  the  domestic 
concerns  of  these  countries  is  as  repugnant  to  our  American 
ideals  as  it  is  ineffective  in  results.  It  is  objectionable  first, 
because  it  is  not  the  business  of  the  United  States  to  be 
occupied  with  the  internal  affairs  of  other  states;  second, 
because  it  would  prove  extremely  embarrassing  through 
financial  arrangements,  however  desirable  in  themselves,  or 
through  any  other  assumed  obligations,  to  become  responsi- 
ble in  any  way  for  the  administration  of  any  of  these  coun- 
tries; and  third,  because  any  intervention  in  derogation  of 
their  sovereign  rights  under  international  law,  arouses  the 
suspicions  and  apprehensions  of  these  republics  as  well  as  of 
other  Spanish-American  states. 

This  policy  has  been  ineffective  because  it  ignores  the  root 
of  the  whole  trouble;  namely,  the  separate  existence  of  states 
too  small  to  thrive  alone,  embroiled  constantly''  in  petty  dis- 
sensions originating,  usually,  in  the  personal  rivalries  of  their 
respective  rulers.  The  time  would  now  seem  to  have  arrived 
for  our  government  to  consider  seriously  whether  the  union 
of  these  five  republics  into  one  solid,  self-sufficient  state 
would  not  prove  to  be  the  most  effecti\'e  and  satisfactory 
remedy  for  a  condition  of  affairs  which  loudly  calls  for  dras- 
tic treatment. 

The  conventional  argument  against  the  union  is  that  pre- 
viously quoted  from  the  report  of  the  majority  of  the  dele- 
gates of  the  Washington  conference;  namely,  that  the  people 
of  Central  America  are  not  yet  prepared  for  union,  that  it 
is  first  necessary  to  bring  them  into  intimate  contact  through 


AMERICAN  INTERVENTION  IN  CENTRAL  AMERICA         255 

the  construction  of  railroads,  etc.,  etc.  This  is  undoubt- 
edly the  ideal  process  from  the  academic  point  of  view  but 
it  is  so  painfull}'  slow  and  the  results  so  disheartening,  that 
one  is  led  seriously  to  question  whether  such  a  process  will 
gver  really  prepare  these  countries  for  union.  The  efforts  of 
the  Washington  conference  in  that  direction  seem  to  have 
been  barren  of  results.  In  regard  to  the  building  of  rail- 
-oads,  certain  of  these  republics  are  quite  unable  to  assume 
the  financial  burden  of  constructing  the  important  links 
•equired  to  bring  them  together,  nor  does  such  construction 
Dffer  sufficient  inducements  for  the  employment  of  private 
japital.  The  finances  of  several  of  these  countries  are  in  a 
leplorable  condition;  and  their  national  resources  have 
Deen  recklessly  exploited  as  well  as  mortgaged  for  many 
rears  to  come.  No  long  period  of  normal  peace  has  pre- 
vailed uninterruptedly  in  any  of  them,  with  the  sole  excep- 
;ion  of  Costa  Rica,  whose  peculiar  conditions  differentiate 
ler  in  some  ways  from  the  rest  of  Central  xYmerica.  Hon- 
luras,  equal  in  size  to  Pennsylvania,  with  a  population  of 
)00,000,  a  total  revenue  of  $1,000,000,  and  a  national  debt 
)f  $6,000,000,  has  had  two  wars,  three  revolutions  and  sev- 
!ral  uprisings  within  the  past  seven  years.  It  seems  pre- 
)osterous  that  Central  America,  possessing  a  total  area 
lightly  larger  than  California  and  one-fourth  that  of  ^Mexico, 
^rith  a  population  of  less  than  4,000,000,  presenting  no 
greater  differentiations  than  IMaineand  Arizona — a  people,  in 
act,  essentially  one  in  customs,  sentiments  and  common 
nterests — should  be  cursed  with  the  burden  of  five  dis- 
inct,  sovereign  republics. 

Had  Virginia  and  Massachusetts  refused  to  unite  in  1789 
)ecause  of  the  lack  of  easy  means  of  communication  and 
lifferences  in  customs  and  interests,  what  mutual  prejudices, 
lissensions  and  conflicts  would  undoubtedly  have  arisen! 
low  increasingly  difficult  it  would  have  become  for  them  to 
urrender  their  sovereign  rights  to  one  strong  central  govern- 
nent!  And  yet,  this  is  almost  precisely  what  has  occurred 
n  Central  America.  Xo  people  ever  stood  in  greater  need  of 
ach  other's  support.  Their  combined  resources  would  have 
upplied  the  elements  necessary  for  a  strong  state  able  to 


256  PHILIP   MARSHALL   BRO"V\TV 

exact  and  maintain  the  same  respect  as  Mexico  and  other 
Spanish-American  states.  Di\dded,  they  have  staggered 
painfully  along  and  been  the  victims  of  many  needless 
misfortunes. 

The  large  majority  of  the  people  of  Central  America  are 
not  turbulent  in  disposition  or  difficult  to  govern.  On  the 
contrary,  they  are  as  a  rule  submissive  and  peaceful  to  a 
fault.  It  is  this  very  quality  which  has  made  it  possible  for 
misguided  and  ambitious  politicians  to  exploit  these  coun- 
tries. The  people  are  not  to  be  blamed  for  the  unstable  con- 
ditions which  have  so  long  existed.  To  them  may  be  applied 
the  observation  of  the  French  orator  in  reference  to  France 
in  1793:  ''I  do  not  accuse  the  king;  I  do  not  accuse  the 
people;  I  accuse  the  situation." 

It  is  time  that  the  United  States,  as  the  disinterested  friend 
and  the  moral  sponsor  of  these  smaller  republics,  should  face 
squarely  the  question  whether  it  will  any  longer  be  an  active 
or  passive  party  to  the  perpetuation  of  such  intolerable 
political  conditions.  Whether  rightly  or  wrongly,  other 
nations  are  inchned  to  hold  the  United  States  responsible  for 
the  continuation  of  this  unsettled  state  of  affairs.  They 
maintain  that,  were  it  not  for  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  other 
nations,  such  as  England  or  Germany,  whose  financial  and 
other  interests  in  Central  America  are  very  great,  would 
long  ago  have  taken  the  necessary  measures  to  ensure  peace 
and  order. 

Such  an  intervention,  with  its  menace  of  foreign  protec- 
torates and  annexations,  would  naturally  have  been  most 
offensive  to  the  United  States.  Do  we,  on  the  other  hand, 
wish  to  assume  the  obligation  of  supervising  the  domestic 
affairs  of  these  Republics?  Do  we  desire — as  portended  by 
recent  interventions — to  establish  four  or  five  quasi-protec- 
torates?  Surely,  such  a  policy  could  only  be  justified  when 
all  other  expedients  had  failed.  There  remains,  fortunately, 
as  a  most  satisfactory  means  of  escape  from  an  embarrassing 
situation,  the  untried  solution  of  the  union  of  the  states  of 
Central  America. 

We  may  consider  this  proposition  for  the  establishment  of 
the  union  from  two  aspects;  first  as  to  the  probable  effects  of 
the  union;  and  second  as  to  how  it  may  be  brought  about. 


AMERICAN  INTERVENTION  IN  CENTRAL  AMERICA  257 

It  is  confidently  to  be  expected:  (1)  That  the  disappear- 
ance of  the  five  separate  governments,  with  all  their  alluring 
fields  for  exploitation,  will  remove  the  main  cause  of  the 
constant  factional  struggles  and  the  wars  which  inevitably 
follow  in  their  train.  (2)  The  heavy  financial  burden  of 
supporting  five  distinct  governments  with  their  elaborate 
administrative  machinery  and  respective  budgets,  will  be 
greatly  lightened.  (3)  The  economic  and  financial  re- 
sources of  these  countries  will  be  united  for  their  mutual 
benefit  in  such  necessary  improvements  as  the  construction 
of  railroads  to  de\'elop  rich  territories  and  bring  all  parts  of 
Central  America  into  close  contact.  (4)  Instead  of  being 
exposed  to  ruinous  arrangements  with  exacting  and  non- 
too-scrupulous  syndicates,  they  could  undertake,  at  a  great 
saving,  a  single  refunding  operation  for  the  settlement  of 
their  foreign  debts  and  the  rehabilitation  of  their  finances. 
(5)  With  their  common  financial  credit  immensely  strengin- 
ened  by  the  cessation  of  wars  and  revolutions,  the}'^  would 
no  longer  be  menaced  with  the  hypothecation  of  their  cus- 
toms revenues  for  the  sake  of  foreign  claimants.  (6)  The 
territorial  integrity  and  independence  of  Central  America 
will  be  effectively  guaranteed.  (7)  The  United  States,  by 
committing  itself  irrevocably  to  the  maintenance  of  this 
independence  against  all  aggression,  would  be  acquitted  of 
any  suspected  ambitions  for  territorial  aggrandizement;  and 
would  win  the  warm  approval  and  the  confidence  of  all 
Spanish-American  states. 

The  limits  of  this  article,  unfortunately,  will  not  allow  an 
elaboration  of  the  preceding  arguments.  It  is  necessary, 
however,  to  indicate  briefly  how  these  fortunate  results, 
which  may  confidently  be  expected  from  the  establishment 
of  the  union,  are  to  be  safeguarded  against  hostile  influences 
and  disintegrating  forces.  The  only  safe  insurance  against 
such  undoubted  perils,  particularly  at  the  outset,  would 
have  to  be  found  in  the  support  of  the  United  States. 
Such  a  protection  would,  in  all  probability,  be  mainly  of  a 
moral  kind  for  the  simple  reason  that,  if  it  were  formally  de- 
clared by  the  United  States  that  it  would  not  tolerate  any 
attempts,  of  whatever  nature,  to  overthrow  the  newly  con- 


258  PHILIP   MARSHALL   BROWN 

stituted  government  of  the  union,  few  would  be  so  foolhardy 
as  to  undertake  any  aggression  doomed  to  certain  failure. 
If  it  be  objected  that  such  a  responsibility  would  be  too  great, 
the  only  answer  is,  that,  one  impressive  intervention  by  the 
United  States,  in  sympathy  with  the  aspirations  of  the  peo- 
ple of  Central  America,  is  infinitely  to  be  preferred  to  many, 
constantly  recurring,  interventions  in  the  internal  affairs  of 
the  separate  republics. 

There  remains  to  be  considered  the  important  question 
as  to  how  the  union  may  be  brought  about.  It  obviously 
cannot  be  accomplished  either  by  force  or  through  the 
initiative  of  the  rulers  of  these  states.  Each  government 
is  suspicious  and  attributes  to  the  other  ambitions  for  leader- 
ship and  predominance.  Public  opinion,  owing  to  the  ab- 
sence of  an  entirely  independent  and  fearless,  free  press  in 
these  countries,  cannot  take  the  initiative  in  this  movement. 
Even  with  public  opinion  fully  aroused,  such  a  movement 
would  require  disinterested  leaders  commanding  general  con- 
fidence. It  is  doubtful  whether  many  such  men  could  be 
found  under  present  conditions.  Such  being  the  case,  there 
can  hardly  be  any  room  to  doubt  that  the  altruistic  initi- 
ative of  the  United  States  would  be  welcomed  with  enthu- 
siasm. Certain  ambitious  politicians  would  naturallj^  be 
opposed  to  the  project  and  would  probably  be  ready  to 
thwart  it  with  the  usual  argument  that  these  countries  are 
not  yet  prepared  for  union.  Once  they  realized,  however, 
that  the  United  States  was  determined  to  bring  to  bear  its 
powerful  influence  in  support  of  the  union,  these  same  poli- 
ticians would  unquestionably  be  compelled  to  fall  into  line. 
Though  cloaking  no  selfish  and  ignoble  ends,  American  pol- 
icy— it  must  be  admitted  in  all  candour — has  not  always  been 
entirely  comprehensible  to  the  people  of  Central  America. 
They  have  viewed  with  increasing  distrust  and  apprehen- 
sion our  interventions  in  their  affairs.  But  in  such  a  lofty 
undertaking  as  helping  them  to  realize  their  most  cherished 
ideal,  the  United  States  could  count  on  their  implicit  con- 
fidence and  gratitude. 

It  is  not  the  writer's  purpose  to  develop  a  complete  pro- 
gram, indicating  in  detail  the  necessary  steps  which  should 


AMERICAN  INTERVENTION  IN  CENTRAL  AMERICA  259 

)e  taken  by  the  United  States  in  assuming  the  initiative  in 
his  movement.  A  few  broad  outlines  should  suffice.  First, 
t  is  essential  that  we  commit  ourselves  unreservedly  to  the 
principle  of  the  imperative  need  of  the  union  of  the  states 
if  (^entral  America.  Second,  our  government  should  inform 
he  governments  of  these  Republics  that  it  considers  the 
mion  as  the  only  adequate  remedy  for  the  ills  they  have 
o  long  endured,  and  that  it  is  prepared  to  assist  in 
very  way  it  properly  can  to  attain  this  object.  Third, 
t  should  invite  and  induce  each  of  the  five  governments 
o  send  commissioners  possessing  plenary  powers,  to  a 
onference  to  be  held  on  neutral  ground,  to  discuss  the  for- 
nation  of  the  union  and  to  draw  up  the  bases  for  the  ulti- 
Qate  accomplishment  of  that  end,  whether  at  once  or  by 
irogressive  steps  requiring,  possibly,  several  years  of  prep- 
jation  and  re-adjustment.  Such  a  discussion  would  most 
irobably  open  the  door  to  many  delicate  and  trying  ques- 
ions,  whose  solution  would  require  the  utmost  patience 
,nd  the  most  skillful  diplomacy.  A  consistent  adherence, 
lowever,  to  the  central  principle  of  the  need  of  the  union, 
hould  produce  tangible  and  effective  results.  There  is 
jnple  room  for  discussion  as  to  the  precise  measures 
equired  to  bring  about  the  union.  But  there  should 
►e  no  room  for  discussion  as  to  its  complete  desirability, 
n  the  project  presented  to  the  Washington  Conference  in 
907  by  the  delegation  from  Honduras,  is  to  be  found  a 
entative  program  for  the  formation  of  the  union,  which 
Qight  serve  as  a  point  de  depart  for  another  conference 
ailed  for  this  purpose  (P^oreign  Relations,  1907,  p.  670). 

It  would  be  unwise  to  attempt  to  minimize  the  difficulties 
D  the  way  of  this  project,  nor  is  it  possible  in  the  limits 
if  this  article  to  point  out  the  numerous  and  weighty  fac- 
ors  which  must  be  taken  into  consideration  in  this  con- 
icction:  for  example,  the  relations  of  Mexico  to  Central 
Uiicrica.  Allusion  should  be  made,  however,  to  the  attitude 
>f  Costa  Rica.  For  more  than  thirty  ye^irs,  while  the  other 
tatcs  of  Central  .Vmerica  have  been  racked  by  internal  dis- 
ensionsand  petty  wars,  Costa  Rica  has  been  entirely  free  from 
evolutions  and  has  been  able  to  avoid  becoming  embroiled 


260  PHILIP   MARSHALL  BROWN 

in  the  factional  troubles  and  intrigues  of  its  neighbours. 
This  may  be  due  to  conditions  peculiar  to  itself.  It  is, 
nevertheless,  a  fact  which  is  of  no  little  encouragement  for 
the  rest  of  Central  America.  The  economic  dev'elopment 
of  Costa  Rica  has  naturally  been  very  great,  and  its  people 
have  been  able  to  enjoy  marked  prosperity.  It  is  not  diffi- 
cult, therefore,  to  understand  why  they  have  been  unwilling, 
heretofore,  to  be  drawn  prematurely  into  any  close  politi- 
cal connection  with  the  other  states  of  Central  America. 
It  is  possible  that  Costa  Rica  may  still  be  indisposed  to 
amalgamate  her  interests  with  those  of  her  neighbours,  even 
though  the  union  should  be  brought  about  through  the 
initiative  and  the  protection  of  the  United  States.  Such 
an  attitude  would  be  particularly  lamentable  inasmuch  as 
Costa  Rica  would  be  in  a  position  to  lend  the  most  sub- 
stantial elements  to  the  union.  This  should  not  deter  the 
other  States,  however,  from  going  ahead  with  the  project, 
because  the  reluctant  sister  would  be  at  liberty  to  come  in 
whenever  she  might  so  desire,  remembering  that  in  the 
constitution  of  1847  it  was  affirmed  "that  Costa  Rica  forms 
a  part  of  the  Central  American  nation  and  will  cooperate 
toward  its  reorganization  in  conjunction  with  the  other 
states." 

Secretary  Blaine  fully  appreciated  the  vital  importance 
of  the  union  of  the  Central  American  States  as  the  surest 
remedy  for  their  persistent  maladies.  His  instructions  of 
November  28,  1881,  to  the  American  minister  in  ^Mexico, 
in  reference  to  aggressive  attitude  of  that  country  towards 
Guatemala,  are  of  especial  interest  as  a  clear  enunciation 
of  American  policy. 

But  in  reference  to  the  union  of  the  Central  American  republics, 
under  one  federal  government,  the  United  States  is  ready  to  avow 
that  no  subject  appeals  more  strongly  to  its  sympathy,  nor  more 
decidedly  to  its  judgment.  Nor  is  this  a  new  policy.  For  many 
years  this  Government  has  urged  upon  the  Central  American  States 
the  importance  of  such  a  union  to  the  creation  of  a  well  ordered 
and  constitutionally  governed  republic  and  our  ministers  have  been 
instructed  to  impress  this  upon  the  individual  governments  to 
which  they  have  been  accredited  and  the  Central  American  states- 
men with  whom  they  have  been  associated.  And  we  have  always 
cherished  the  belief  that  in  this  effort  wc  had  the  sincere  sj-mpathy 


AMERICAN  INTERVENTION  IN  CENTRAL  AMERICA  261 

and  cordial  cooperation  of  tho  Mexican  government.  Under  the 
conviction  that  the  future  of  the  people  of  Central  America  was 
absolutely  dependent  upon  the  establishment  of  a  federal  govern- 
ment which  would  give  strength  abroad  and  maintain  peace  at 
home,  our  chief  motive  in  the  recent  commotion  in  Mexico  was  to 
prevent  the  diminution,  either  political  or  territorial  of  any  of  these 
states,  in  order  that,  trusting  to  the  joint  aid  and  friendship  of 
Mexico  and  the  Ignited  States,  they  miglit  be  encouraged  to  per- 
sist in  their  effort  to  establish  a  government  which  would,  both  for 
their  advantage  and  ours,  represent  their  combined  wealth,  intelli- 
gence and  character  (Foreign  Relations,  1881,  p.  816). 

In  his  general  instructions  to  the  American  diplomatic 
representatives  in  Central  America,  dated  iNIay  7,  1881,  Mr. 
Blaine  also  said : 

Vou  cannot  impress  too  strongly  upon  the  government  to  which 
you  are  accredited  or  upon  the  public  men  with  whom  you  asso- 
ciate the  importance  which  the  government  of  the  United  States 
attaches  to  such  a  confederation  of  the  states  of  Central  America 
as  will  respond  to  the  wants  and  wishes  of  their  people.  Our 
popular  maxim,  that  "in  union  there  is  strength,"  finds  its  coun- 
terpart in  the  equally  manifest  truth  that,  "in  division  there  is 
weakness."  So  long  as  the  Central  American  States  remain  di- 
vided they  will  fail  to  acquire  the  strength  and  prestige  to  which 
they  are  entitled The  statesmen  of  Central  Amer- 
ica may  feel  certain  that,  with  a  common  representative  govern- 
ment, wielding  the  power  and  consulting  the  interests  of  the 
several  States,  their  connection  with  the  railway  system  of  the  con- 
tinent will  be  eagerly  sought  and  they  will  both  give  and  receive 
advantages  which  always  follow  the  establishment  of  commercial 
relations  anrl  ])olitical  sympathy.  All  internal  improvements,  in- 
cluding the  great  project  of  the  interoceanic  canal  would  receive 
great  stimulus  and  aid  from  a  firm  union  of  the  Central  American 
states  and  the  strong  government  that  should  grow  from  that 
union  (Foreign  Relations,  ISSl,  p.  102). 

It  is  fruitless  to  speculate  as  to  what  Blaine  might  have 
done  to  forward  the  union,  had  he  remained  longer  in  power 
at  that  time.  His  statesmanlike  vision  in  grasping  a  great 
idea  and  his  boldness  in  carrying  it  into  effect  were  demon- 
strated in  the  realization  of  the  Pan  American  Union.  vSince 
his  day  the  United  States  has  waited  patiently  in  the  hope 
that  the  republics  of  Central  America  would  be  able  to  work 
out  their  own  salvation.  It  would  now  seem  certain  that 
they  cannot  do  so  unaided.  The  futility  of  peace  confer- 
ences and  sentimental  agreements  has  been  proved  beyond 


262  PHILIP   MARSHALL   BROWN 

question.  The  obligation  of  the  United  States  towards 
these  countries  is  generally  recognized.  Acting  the  igno- 
minious part  of  a  policeman,  we  are  intermeddling  in  their 
domestic  affairs  and  cannot  foresee  whither  such  a  pol- 
icy may  lead.  A  courageous,  radical  remedy  is  urgently 
demanded.  The  administration  at  Washington,  which  by 
a  measure  of  the  highest,  constructive  statesmanship,  is 
prepared  to  aid  the  people  of  Central  America  achieve  their 
noblest  ideal,  will  build  for  itself  a  lasting  monument  in 
the  hearts  of  all  Spanish-Americans.  The  United  States 
will  be  freed  from  all  aspersions  of  pursuing  unworthy  aims 
as  well  as  from  the  perils  of  irksome  interventions.  It  will 
be  able  to  demonstrate  irrefutably  that  the  Monroe  Doc- 
trine does  not  serve  to  perpetuate  bad  government,  but 
that  its  benificent  effect  is  to  enable  the  people  of  this 
western  hemisphere  to  emerge  from  chaotic  political  con- 
ditions, and  unhindered  to  achieve  their  highest  aspirations 
and  destinies. 


b 


THE  DOMINICAN  CONVENTION  AND  ITS 

LESSONS 

By  Jacob  H.  Hollander,  Ph.D.,  Professor  of  Political  Economy, 
Johns  Hopkins   University,  Formerly  Special  Commis- 
sioner   Plenipotentiary    to   Santo   Domingo,    and 
Financial  Adviser  of  the  Dominican  Republic.^ 

The  occasion  for  American  intervention  in  Dominican 
affairs  in  1905  was  the  imminence  of  serious  complications 
between  the  United  States  and  foreign  powers,  growing  out 
of  the  active  measures  taken  by  such  governments  to  en- 
force the  rights  of  their  creditor-citizens  as  secured  by  form- 
al contracts  or  by  international  protocols  with  the  Domin- 
ican Republic. 

For  thirty-five  years  before  (1869-1904),  Dominican  his- 
tory had  been  a  miserable  succession  of  revolution  and 
anarchy,  interrupted  by  ruthless  and  blood-stained  dicta- 
torships. Of  this  mis-government  the  financial  counter- 
part was  the  accumulation  of  some  $40,000,000  of  public 
indebtedness,  much  of  it  semi-fraudulent  in  character  but 
possessing  sinister  importance  by  reason  of  commitments 
which  the  Dominican  Republic  had  been  driven  into  making 
with  creditor  govermnents. 

If  the  United  States  had  been  willing  to  contemplate  the 
full  operation  of  these  instruments,  much  of  the  reason  for 
intervention  as  an  international  necessity  would  have  dis- 
appeared.    On  the  other  hand,  if  the  seizure  of  Dominican 

'  Much  of  the  historical  and  descriptive  matter  contained  in  the  fol- 
lowing paragraphs  has  already  been  published  by  the  author  in  one  form 
or  another:  "A  Report  on  the  Debt  of  San  r3oiningo,"  1905;  "The  Read- 
justment of  San  Domingo's  Finances"  in  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics. 
May,  1907;  "The  Financial  Difficulties  of  San  Domingo,"  in  Annals  of  the 
American  Academy  of  Political  arid  Social  Science,  July,  1907;  "The  Reor- 
ganization of  Dominican  Finances,"  in  Proceedings  of  Lake  Mohonk  Con- 
ference, October,  1912;  "The  Regeneration  of  San  Domingo,"  in  The 
Independent,  August  28,  1913. 

263 


264  JACOB    H.    HOLLANDER 

custom  ports  by  foreign  powers  for  the  prolonged  period 
necessary  to  discharge  heavy  debts,  and  the  appreciable 
voice  in  the  internal  affairs  of  the  country  that  such  occupa- 
tion was  certain  to  carry  with  it — if  these  things  were  deemed 
inconsistent  with  the  traditional  policy  of  the  United  States 
in  the  West  Indies,  then  it  appeared  that  some  positive 
action  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  was  imperative. 

The  expressed  preference  of  such  foreign  governments 
had  been  to  take  independent  action  in  compelUng  San 
Domingo  to  respect  her  contract  and  treaty  obligations. 
In  deference  to  the  United  States,  this  attitude  had  been 
waived,  and  the  American  government  besought  to  take 
the  initiative  in  the  matter.  There  was  every  reason  to 
suppose  that,  failing  intervention  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States,  independent  and  immediate  action  would  have  been 
seriously  considered  by  such  foreign  governments. 

On  April  1,  1905,  an  interim  arrangement  was  effected 
by  the  United  States  providing  for  administration  of  the 
Dominican  customs.  Thereafter  San  Domingo  enjoyed  a 
civil  calm  and  an  economic  wellbeing  such  as  it  had  not 
known  for  two  generations.  Insurrections  ceased,  agri- 
culture revived  and  trade  developed.  The  government 
was  enabled  to  meet  its  cuiTent  expenses,  to  accumulate  a 
surplus  for  larger  requirements,  and  to  segregate  a  fund 
towards  the  adjustment  of  its  debt. 

The  American-Dominican  convention  of  July  25,  1907, 
was  designed  to  preserve  such  conditions,  with  less  con- 
siderable involvement  on  the  part  of  the  United  States. 
Instead  of  the  United  States  both  adjusting  the  debt  and 
collecting  the  customs  for  the  payment  thereof — as  was 
proposed  in  the  original  protocol  arranged  between  the  two 
countries— the  Dominican  Republic  itself  aiTi"\'ed  at  a  vol- 
untary agreement  with  its  creditors,  and  the  United  States 
undertook  to  administer  the  customs  for  the  service  of  the 
debt  so  adjusted. 

The  details  of  the  readjustment  were  (1)  a  drastic  scaling 
down  of  recognized  debts  and  claims;  (2)  the  extinction  of 
burdensome  monopoly-concessions  recklessly  granted  by  the 
Dominican  government;  (3)  the  provision  of  a  considerable 


THE  DOMINICAN  CONVENTION  265 

residual  amount  for  the  construction,  under  proper  restric- 
tions, of  permanent  public  improvements.  All  of  the  fore- 
going was  effected  by  the  creation  of  a  refunding  loan  of 
$20,000,000,  of  fifty-year,  5  per  cent  bonds,  accepted  by 
creditors  upon  the  basis  of  the  debts  as  readjusted,  and  se- 
cured as  to  interest  and  amortization  service  by  a  customs 
receivership  on  the  part  of  the  United  States. 

In  detail  the  service  of  the  debt  was  assured  by  the 
appointment,  by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  of  a 
general  receiver  of  Dominican  customs,  who,  with  the  neces- 
sary assistants,  likewise  appointed,  should  collect  all  the 
customs  duties  of  the  Republic  until  the  payment  or  re- 
demption of  the  bonds  so  issued.  From  the  sum  so  col- 
lected the  general  receiver,  after  discharging  the  expenses 
of  the  receivership,  paid  over  to  the  fiscal  agent  of  the  loan 
on  the  first  day  of  each  calendar  month  the  sum  of  $100,000, 
to  be  applied  to  the  payment  of  the  interest  and  the  amorti- 
zation of  all  the  bonds  issued.  The  remainder  of  the  sums 
collected  by  the  general  receiver  were  paid  monthly  to  the 
Dominican  government. 

The  Dominican  government  might  also  apply  any  fur- 
ther sums  to  the  amortization  of  the  bonds,  over  and  above 
the  1  per  cent  sinking  fund  provision  stipulated;  but,  in 
any  event,  should  the  customs  revenues  collected  by  the 
general  receiver  in  any  j'ear  exceed  the  sum  of  $3,000,000, 
one-half  of  the  surplus  above  such  sum  of  $3,000,000  must 
be  applied  to  the  sinking  fund  for  the  further  redemption 
of  bonds. 

The  Dominican  government  agreed  to  provide  bj'  law 
for  the  pa\Tnent  of  all  customs  dues  to  the  general  receiver 
and  his  assistants,  and  to  give  them  all  useful  aid  and  assist- 
ance and  full  protection  to  the  extent  of  its  powers.  The 
government  of  tlie  United  States  in  turn  undertook  to  give 
to  the  general  receiver  and  his  assistants  such  protection 
as  it  should  find  to  be  requisite  for  the  performance  of  their 
duties. 

Provision  was  also  made  that,  until  the  Dominican  Re- 
public paid  the  whole  amount  of  the  bonds  so  created,  there 
was  to  be  no  increase  of  its  public  debt,  except  by  previous 


266  JACOB    H.    HOLLANDER 

agreement  between  the  Dominican  government  and  the 
United  States,  and  that  the  Uke  agreement  should  be  neces- 
sary for  any  modification  of  the  Dominican  import  duties. 
The  accounts  of  the  general  receiver  were  to  be  rendered 
monthly  to  the  contaduria  general  of  the  Dominican  Repub- 
lic and  to  the  state  department  of  the  United  States  for 
examination  and  approval  by  the  appropriate  oflScials  of 
the  two  governments. 

The  Dominican  convention  has  now  been  in  operation 
for  six  years — a  period  long  enough  to  estimate  its  work 
and  consequence  with  some  reasonableness.  In  that  time 
little  short  of  a  revolution,  social,  political  and  economic, 
has  been  wrought  in  the  country.  Not  a  revolution  of  the 
old  type,  involving  waste  and  ruin,  but  a  revolution  in  the 
arts  of  peace,  industry  and  civilization.  The  people  of  the 
island,  protected  from  rapine  and  bloodshed,  free  to  devote 
themselves  to  earning  a  livelihood,  are  fairly  on  the  way  to 
becoming  a  decent  peasantry,  as  industrious  and  stable  as 
sub-tropical  conditions  are  likely  to  evolve.  Agriculture, 
the  great  economic  mainstay  of  the  RepubUc,  has  gone  for- 
ward by  leaps  and  bounds.  The  cultivation  of  cacao,  to- 
bacco, sugar  and  cotton  are  no  longer  the  speculative  possi- 
bilities of  brief  interludes  of  peace,  but  normal,  lucrative 
occupations.  All  of  this  has  been  reflected  in  an  incredible 
expansion  of  the  commerce  of  the  country,  both  exports  and 
imports.  The  foreign  trade  of  San  Domingo  for  (1911-12) 
the  latest  fiscal  year  for  which  figures  are  available,  aggre- 
gated nearly  $20,600,000,  as  compared  with  some  $5,000,000 
for  the  year  preceding  the  convention.  The  terms  of  the 
debt  service  have  been  maintained  with  perfect  fidelity, 
not  only  in  the  matter  of  the  interest  charge,  but  in  the 
amortization  of  the  loan  much  beyond  the  anticipated  pro- 
vision. 

The  total  customs  collections  for  the  ten  months  of  the 
sixth  convention  year  (1912-13)  have  aggregated  $3,312,- 
019.12,  compared  with  $2,983,181.90  for  the  corresponding 
period  of  1911-12.  If  the  present  rate  has  been  maintained 
for  the  remainder  of  the  fiscal  year — and  it  is  certain  that 
such  has  been  the  case — the  total  customs  collections  for 


THE  DOMINICAN  CONVENTION  2()7 

1912-13  will  exceed  $4,000,000,  being  practically  double 
the  collections  realized  at  the  time  the  receivership  was 
inaugurated  and  insuring  a  supplementary  payment  of  $500,- 
000  toward  the  amortization  of  the  loan,  in  addition  to  the 
$200,000  for  which  statutory  provision  is  made.  With  the 
further  rapid  improvement  in  the  fairly  limitless  economic 
development  of  the  country,  and  with  continued  progress 
in  the  direction  of  reducing  the  high  import  duties  and  en- 
tirely abolishing  all  export  duties — along  which  a  wise 
initial  step  has  already  been  taken — there  is  certain  to  be 
even  more  notable  improvement  in  public  revenues,  thus 
not  only  making  possible  ampler  expenditure,  but  ensuring 
earlier  discharge  of  the  national  debt. 

In  poUtical  affairs  there  has  from  time  to  time  been  a 
reappearance  of  unwholesome  tendencies,  and  the  past  year 
witnessed  something  of  this  kind — some  part  of  which,  at 
least,  is  to  be  charged  to  the  policies  of  our  own  government. 
The  immediate  interest  of  the  Dominican  convention  con- 
sists in  its  efficacy  in  rescuing  an  international  derelict. 
But  its  collateral  significance  to  the  United  States  is  even 
greater — applicability  of  the  essential  provisions  of  the 
arrangement  to  other  financially  bankrupt,  revolution-torn 
and  internationally  menaced  republics  of  Central  and 
South  America.  It  accordingly  becomes  worth  while  to 
scrutinize  minutely  our  experience  with  San  Domingo  in^ 
order  to  determine — and  hereafter  avoid — any  possible 
errors  in  connection  with  our  activities  in  that  direction. 
There  have  been  at  least  three  such  lapses:  (1)  the  con- 
tinuity of  administrative  oversight  has  been  disturbed;  (2) 
a  political  upheaval  based  upon  violence  has  been  counte- 
nanced, and  (3)  the  incurring  of  so-called  revolutionary 
debts  has  been  validated, 

1,  The  change  in  administration  in  Washington  in 
March,  1909,  effected  serious  disturbance  in  the  conduct 
of  Dominican  affairs.  At  the  very  outset  we  severed  all 
connection  with  those  advisers  whom  circumstances  had 
made  intimately  acquainted  with  the  Dominican  problem 
and  whose  counsel  had  up  to  that  determined  every  step 
in   connection    therewith.     Thereafter    Dominican    affaire 


268  JACOB    H.    HOLLANDER 

were  directed  in  formal  departmental  routine  by  officials 
who  were  without  any  prior  knowledge  of  the  subject,  who 
were  unfamiliar  with  San  Domingo  and  its  people  and  who 
were  compelled  to  rely  for  their  equipment  upon  imperfect 
departmental  records.  The  change  was  not  merely  from 
one  group  of  advisers  to  another;  but  from  persons  who 
knew  every  detail  of  the  Dominican  problem  to  others  who 
were  unacquainted  with  any  part  of  it. 

The  consequences  of  this  abrupt  transition  were  soon  felt 
in  San  Domingo  in  the  form  of  administrative  difficulty  and 
political  agitation.  The  intimate  personal  note  which  had 
from  the  outset  figured  in  the  influence  exerted  by  the 
United  States  and  which  was  of  such  peculiar  ^'alue  in  the 
formative  period  could  not  be  replaced  by  departmental 
routine,  handicapped  as  it  was  by  insufficient  knowledge. 
Certain  things  which  it  was  desirable  for  San  Domingo  to 
do  and  which  it  had  before  been  possible  to  accomplish  by 
mere  suggestion,  were  left  undone  because  they  could  not 
be  made  the  subject  of  formal  instructions.  On  the  other 
hand  such  communications  as  were  sent  tended  to  excite 
by  their  new  formality  and  rigor  a  feeling  of  hurt  and 
resentment. 

Out  of  this  new  relation  there  developed  in  San  Domingo 
a  feeling  that  the  convention  administration  enjoyed  less 
cordial  regard  in  Washington.  Industriouslj''  circulated 
by  the  elements  hostile  to  order  and  honesty,  this  rumor 
served  as  a  pretext  for  political  unrest.  Premonitory  symp- 
toms, easy  of  recognition  and  simple  of  correction,  were 
neglected  in  Washington  and  the  train  laid  for  revolutionary 
outbreak. 

It  is  true  that  the  orderly  government  and  the  honest  ad- 
ministration of  the  convention  government  in  San  Domingo 
had  excited  some  hostility  and  resentment  in  the  circles 
that  had  profited  by  the  old  regime.  The  suppression  of 
graft,  the  elimination  of  sinecures,  the  refusal  of  conces- 
sions, the  drastic  scaling  down  of  semi-fradulent  claims, 
the  rigid  administration  of  customs  regulations  and  the  im- 
partial collection  of  taxes  and  dues — were  innovations  so 
radical  as  to  inevitably  arouse  the  hatred  of  those  to  whom 


THE  DOMINICAN  CONVENTION  209 

such  perquisites  had  come  to  be  regarded  as  proprietary 
rights.  It  is  likely  tliat  a  certain  personal  brusqueness  and  oc- 
casional tactless  conduct  on  the  part  of  the  Dominican  execu- 
tives may  have  occasioned  some  animus  in  more  respectable 
quarters.  But  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  certain  that  there 
were  few  persons  in  San  Domingo  whose  opinions  were  en- 
titled to  respect  who  did  not  believe  that  the  government 
was  being  honestly  and  efficiently  administered  and  that 
the  country  itself  was  entering  upon  a  new  pohtical  and 
economic  era. 

These  were  conditions  as  to  policy  and  personnel  which 
it  was  desirable  for  the  United  States  to  seek  to  maintain. 
The  principal  Dominican  executives  were  unusually  fine 
examples  of  the  Latin- American  publicist,  men  of  high 
moral  character,  unblemished  personal  integrity  and  of  real 
and  tested  patriotism.  The  President  was  probably  the 
best  loved  man  in  San  Domingo  and  the  minister  of  finance, 
the  brainiest.  Both  men  understood  the  motives  which 
had  actuated  the  United  States  in  entering  into  the  con- 
vention, and  believed  in  us  and  in  our  intentions.  Upon 
the  minister  of  finance  had  devolved  the  detailed  conduct 
of  the  debt  adjustment  and  in  this  he  had  displayed  financial 
ability  and  political  statesmanship  of  a  high  order. 

2.  The  con\ention  President  was  assassinated  on  Novem- 
ber 20,  1911,  and  the  minister  of  finance  escaped  the  same 
fate  only  by  flight  to  Jamaica.  The  assassination  itself 
was  the  act  of  a  political  malcontent,  unrelated  save  in  the 
general  way  suggested  above,  to  popular  feeling  and  to 
political  condition.  Nothing  that  the  United  States  could 
have  done  would  have  removed  the  possibility  of  such  an 
act  of  individual  violence.  But  for  the  consequences  of 
the  assassination — far-reaching  and  portentous — the  United 
States  was  more  responsible.  Immediately  after  the  assassi- 
nation, the  reigns  of  government  were  seized  by  a  miUtary 
leader;  a  kinsman  figure-head  of  the  same  name  was  in- 
stalled as  provisional  president  and  two  months  later  elected 
president  for  a  six-year  term. 

This  procedure  the  United  States  should  never  have 
tolerated.     Exercising  the  ample  power  vested  in  it  by  sec- 


271)  JACOB  H.  HOLLANDER 

tion  II  of  the  convention,  the  United  States  should  have 
seen  to  it  that  the  office  of  president  and  other  vacated 
positions  were  filled  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  con- 
stitutional govermnent,  instciid  of  countenancing  a  coup 
d'etat  made  possible  by  assassination.  By  keeping  our 
hands  off  at  this  time,  we  revived  the  most  vicious  feature 
of  the  old  order  of  things — disregard  of  orderly  government 
in  favor  of  political  violence.  A  premium  was  put  upon 
revolution  and  disturbance,  and  much  of  what  we  had  pro- 
fessed was  apparently  negati\ed.  There  was  no  choice 
as  between  intervention  or  non-intervention,  but  only  as 
between  inaction  then  and  gun  boats  later.  All  Domin- 
ican history  made  it  certain  thiit  failure  to  preserve  political 
stability  at  this  stage  would  entail  more  serious  involvement 
thereafter. 

The  revolutionary  government  endured  exactly  one  year. 
Through  its  whole  course  ran  political  disturbance  of  such 
increasuig  force  as  eventually  to  compel  American  inter- 
vention. This  entailed  the  recognition  of  the  revolutionists, 
the  resignation  of  the  dictator-made  president  and  the  in- 
stallation of  a  compromise  successor  as  provisional  presi- 
dent. Of  the  doubtful  wisdom  of  the  actual  selection,  it 
is  unnecessary  to  speak.  ^Nlore  general  considerations  arise 
in  connection  with  the  recognition  of  the  revolutionists, 
as  an  unfortunate  precedent  in  the  future  relations  of  the 
United  States  to  San  Domingo.  It  is  very  possible  that 
with  matters  gone  as  far  as  they  had  no  other  course  re- 
mained open  to  the  United  States,  and  that  this  necessity 
must  be  accounted  the  inevitable  sequel  of  the  original 
error  of  acquiescing  in  the  coup  d'etat.  But  the  conse- 
quence was  none  the  less  grave.  The  Dominican  mind 
once  again  revived  the  cherished  principle  of  native  politics — 
a  doctrine  become  temporarily  passe  in  the  enforced  calm 
of  the  preceding  six  years — that  if  a  patriot  be  dissatisfied 
with  the  constituted  government,  he  may  take  to  the  bush 
and  eventually  secure  honor  and  emolument  for  his  ''rev- 
olution." A  political  settlement  on  such  lines  carried  the 
assurance  of  its  own  destruction.  On  March  31,  the 
resignation  of  the  provisional  president  was  presented  to 


THE  DOMINICAN  CONVENTION  271 

the  Dominican  Congress  and  accepted,  involving  further 
disturbance  and  adjustments  until  the  present  adminis- 
tration was  established  the  stability  of  which  still  remains 
to  be  determined. 

3.  A  no  less  serious  feature  of  the  intervention  of  Sep- 
tember, 1912,  was  the  validation  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States  of  a  large  amount  of  public  indebtedness  incurred 
during  the  dictator  administration,  l)y  authorizing  a  new 
bond  issue  to  provide  for  its  discharge.  Whether  the  mode 
of  sale  and  the  price  realized  for  this  loan  offer  any  ground 
for  criticism  can  not  be  determined  without  full  knowledge 
of  circumstances  and  records.  Immediate  judgment  is 
however  possible  with  respect  to  the  validation  itself. 

The  validation  in  question  consisted  in  the  affirmative 
exercise,  on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  of  the  authority 
conferred  by  section  III  of  the  convention:  "III.  Until 
the  Dominican  Republic  has  paid  the  whole  amount  of  the 
bonds  of  the  debt,  its  public  debt  shall  not  be  increased  except 
by  previous  agreement  between  the  Dominican  government 
and  the  United  States." 

The  purpose  of  this  clause  was  to  prevent  San  Domingo, 
for  a  long  term  of  years,  from  sinking  back  into  the  morass 
of  semi-fraudulent  debt  from  which  the  financial  readjust- 
ment of  1907  had  extricated  the  country.  In  drafting  the 
convention  an  absolute  prohibition  of  further  debt  con- 
traction was  at  first  contemplated  and  this  was  only  modi- 
fied in  the  thought  that  the  economic  regeneration  of  San 
Domingo  might  go  on  so  rapidly  as  to  make  desirable  some 
large  public  improvement  for  which  current  revenues  would 
be  inadequate.  It  was  never  anticipated  that  recourse 
would  be  had  to  this  provision  for  the  recognition  of  floating 
administrative  debts  and  claims  within  the  early  years  of 
the  convention  and  while  its  working  was  still  experimental. 

Of  the  character  of  the  floating  indebtedness  so  validated 
by  the  United  States,  it  is  impossible  to  speak  as  details 
have  not  yet  been  made  accessible.  Inasmuch  as  it  appears 
to  have  originated  in  the  main  during  the  twelve  months  of 
the  dictator  government,  the  presumption  is  that  it  differs 


272  JACOB    H.    HOLLANDER 

in  no  material  respects  from  much  of  the  pre-convention 
indebtedness.  But  even  to  the  extent  to  which  it  may  have 
been  free  from  the  unsavory  quaUty  of  the  old  Dominican 
indebtedness,  it  should  never  have  received  the  sanction 
of  the  United  States  as  justifying  a  new  loan  secured  by  a 
lien  upon  customs  receipts  and  a  service  administered  by  the 
customs  receiver. 

The  spirit  of  the  debt  adjustment  of  1907  and  the  letter 
of  the  convention  had  been  to  serve  notice  upon  all  pros- 
pective lenders  that  future  advances  to  the  Dominican 
RepubUc  were  at  the  lenders'  risk  and  must,  unless  sanc- 
tioned by  the  United  States,  be  in  the  nature  of  temporary 
loans  repayable  as  to  interest  and  principal  from  out  of 
current  revenues.  If,  during  a  twelve  months  of  wasteful 
and  inefficient  administration  in  which  graft  and  prodigality 
held  carnival,  any  particularly  daring  lenders  were  willing 
to  make  advances,  upon  terms  satisfactory  to  themselves, 
to  a  depleted  treasury — it  was  certainly  not  the  duty  of  the 
United  States  to  secure  such  advances.  It  would  have  been 
wisdom  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  to  have  discouraged 
the  contracting  of  such  indebtedness ;  but  failing  to  do  this, 
it  was  in  the  last  degree  unwise  to  have  approved  its  ex- 
istence. If  such  indebtedness  existed  it  should  have  been 
discharged  by  San  Domingo  in  succeeding  years  from  out 
of  current  revenues,  made  possible  by  less  wasteful  ad- 
ministration. The  experience  of  the  convention  govern- 
ment had  shown  that  such  retrenchment  was  possible  and 
the  increased  flow  of  customs  revenue  made  it  easier  now 
than  then.  Such  a  mode  of  discharge  would  not,  of  course, 
have  offered  the  comfort  to  the  lenders  that  the  debt  vali- 
dation did,  but  far  from  this  involving  any  injustice,  it  would 
have  been  a  salutary  treatment  of  daring  financial  enter- 
prise and  a  deterrent  to  further  ventures  of  this  kind. 

It  thus  appears  that  with  respect  to  administrative  over- 
sight, political  stability  and  financial  policy  there  has  been 
appreciable  departure  from  the  course  defined  by  the  Con- 
vention and  pursued  during  the  first  years  of  the  customs 
receivership — with  the  consequences  of  occasional  friction 


THE    DOMINICAN    CONVENTION  273 

in  San  Domingo  and  unnecessary  concern  in  the  United 
States.  But  there  will  never  by  a  reversion  to  old  condi- 
tions. The  convention  clearly  defines  the  duties  and  the 
obligations  of  the  two  contracting  countries,  and  its  wise  and 
statesmanlike  provisions  are  ample  to  meet  every  contin- 
gency likely  to  arise — if  we  will  but  avail  ourselves  intelli- 
gently of  them.  It  would  be  an  incredible  thing  if  the  i 
traditions  and  practices  of  two  generations  should  not 
struggle  to  reassert  themselves.  Yet  on  every  hand  there 
is  evidence  that  a  new  degree  of  national  consciousness  is 
crystallizing,  that  a  new  type  of  national  leadership  is  being 
evolved  and  that  new  ideals  of  national  well-being  are 
taking  form. 

To  sum  up,  the  extension  of  the  good  offices  of  the  United 
States  to  the  Dominican  Republic  has  meant  that  debts 
and  claims  aggregating  nearly  $40,000,000  have  been  and 
will  be  honorably  discharged  for  about  $17,000,000;  that  the 
Republic's  credit  has  been  established  on  a  very  high  plane; 
that  onerous  concessions  and  monopolies  have  been  redeemed 
and  important  works  and  improvements  undertaken;  that 
adequate  revenues  for  the  maintenence  of  orderly  govern- 
ment have  been  assured;  that  social  progress  and  economic 
betterment  have  been  made  possible  and  that  imminent 
danger  of  foreign  intervention  has  been  removed,  and  all 
this  without  loss  of  territorial  integrity  or  menace  of  inde- 
pendent sovereignty  on  the  part  of  San  Domingo  and  with- 
out embarrassing  involvement  or  troublesome  burden  on 
the  part  of  the  United  States. 


IN  JUSTICE  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES— A  SET- 
TLEMENT WITH  COLOMBIA 

By  Earl  Harding 

As  a  people  we  have  been  so  engrossed  with  interest  in  the 
building  of  the  Panama  Canal  that  we  have  given  but  little 
thought  either  to  the  means  employed  in  securing  the  right 
to  build  it,  or  the  uses  to  which  it  shall  be  put.  The  Canal 
has  been  our  one  great  national  enthusiasm — aside  from  base- 
ball. We  have  been  fascinated  by  its  bigness  and  its  mili- 
tary glamor.  We  have  accepted  indifferently  the  official 
diplomatic  version  of  the  accomplished  fact  of  the  secession 
of  the  Department  of  Panama  from  the  mother  countx-y, 
Colombia,  and  since  the  apparent  collapse  of  the  senatorial 
investigation  of  1906,  most  of  us  have  forgotten  the  pre- 
liminaries and  have  turned  our  attention  to  watching  "the 
dirt  fly." 

One  result  of  our  national  enthusiasm  was  to  create  an 
atmosphere  jealous  of  investigation  and  impatient  of  criti- 
cism. Editors  learned,  or  thought  they  learned,  that  the 
very  word  "Panama"  was  loaded  with  danger  because  the 
public  seemed  not  to  be  able  to  differentiate  between  exposure 
and  condemnation  of  the  lawless  acquisition  of  the  Canal 
Zone  and  an  attack  upon  the  Canal  enterprise  itself.  WTiere- 
fore  there  was  a  long  period  during  which  intelligent  discus- 
sion and  honest  criticism  of  the  Panama  affair  were  so  un- 
popular as  to  be  almost  entirely  suppressed. 

Many  a  time  I  have  been  advised  to  "forget  Panama." 
Many  a  time  I  have  been  told  by  men  who  should  know  bet- 
ter, that  the  people  of  the  United  States  would  never  look 
back  of  their  glorified  Canal  far  enough  to  see  its  inglorious 
history.  They  were  unwise  prophets.  The  Canal  itself 
has  made  the  people  of  the  LTnited  States  think.  They  are 
beginning  to  realise  that  to  "take"  the  Isthmus  and  "make 
the  dirt  fly"  were  phases  of  a  national  problem  quite  apart 

274 


A    SETTLEMENT   WITH   COLOMBIA  275 

from  the  operation  of  the  Canal  under  conditions  of  inter- 
national friendliness.  Such  conferences  as  this  have  l^cen 
made  possible  by  a  new  popular  interest  in  the  countries  to 
the  south  of  us,  and  this  interest  has  been  created  by  the 
r\anal.  Through  such  activities  as  this  the  vital  importance 
of  the  Panama  question  is  being  brought  home  to  the  thought- 
ful people  of  the  United  States. 

"In  Justice  to  Colombia,"  the  title  given  by  the  editor 
to  an  article  in  October  World's  Work  in  which  I  suggested 
a  readjustment  of  boundaries  at  Panama  as  a  step  toward 
a  settlement  with  Colombia,  failed  to  reflect  the  spirit  in 
which  I  wrote.  I  am  not  pleading  for  justice  to  Colombia; 
I  hold  no  brief  to  present  her  claims;  my  major  concern  and 
sympathy  are  for  my  own  country,  and  I  bespeak  a  settle- 
ment of  the  "Panama  question"  in  justice  to  the  Umted 
States. 

Most,  if  not  all,  of  us  believe  in  international  justice  in 
the  abstract;  but  when  it  comes  to  the  accomplishment  of 
this  ideal,  whenever  it  is  proposed  in  such  a  case  as  the 
affair  of  Panama  to  undo,  so  far  as  may  be  possible,  an  in- 
ternational wrong,  we  are  confronted  by  the  protest  of  that 
brand  of  jingoism  that  is  too  narrow  ever  to  acknowledge 
a  national  fault.  We  are  told  that  a  consistent  and  unbro- 
ken front  must  be  presented  to  the  exterior  world;  that  a 
nation's  foreign  policy,  no  matter  how  unrighteous  or  ill- 
advised,  must  be  given  undivided  support,  and  that  to 
gainsay  it  is  sedition.  We  are  solemnly  told  that  if  we  really 
did  steal  Panama  we  must  not  confess  it  by  making  repa- 
ration; that  it  is  nobler  for  us  and  our  children  and  our 
children's  children  brazenly  to  endure  the  stigma  thrust 
upon  us  by  one  overt  act  than  to  permit  the  nation  to 
acknowledge  and  make  amends  for  the  commission  of  a 
flagrant  international  wrong. 

He  who  sets  out  to  tell  the  truth  about  the  afl'airs  of 
Panama  must,  therefore,  an.swer  first  for  himself  this  eth- 
ical question: 

Does  citizenship  impose  the  moral  obligation  to  uphold 
your  government  in  an  immoral  foreign  policy,  when  khe 
life  of  the  nation  is  not  at  stake? 


276  EARL  HARDING 

For  myself,  I  refuse  to  subscribe  to  this  dual  standard 
of  political  morality — one  code  of  ethics  for  our  domestic 
affairs  and  another  for  our  foreign  relations.  I  have  no 
patience  with  the  patrotism  that  holds  our  public  servants 
to  account,  by  criticism,  investigation  or  impeachment, 
for  what  they  may  or  may  not  do  at  home,  yet  absolves  them 
from  moral  and  legal  restraint  and  holds  their  acts  above 
review  or  repudiation  the  moment  they  cross  our  inter- 
national boundary^  and  commit  some  lawlessness  in  the 
name  of  the  people  of  the  United  States. 

Nor  do  I  believe  that  the  thoughtful  men  and  women  of 
this  country  imagine  that  as  a  nation  we  would  suiTer  loss 
of  character  or  caste  or  self-respect  by  frank  acknowledg- 
ment that  in  a  moment  of  ill-advised  haste,  in  the  false 
light  of  distorted  truth,  we  committed  an  act  of  international 
injustice  for  which  we  desire  to  make  honorable  amends. 

As  to  the  entire  righteousness  of  Columbia's  claims  and 
the  method  for  adjusting  them,  pubHc  opinion  in  the  United 
States  has  crystallized  only  in  part,  but  there  is  a  consensus 
approaching  unanimity  in  the  view  that  we  cannot  afford 
longer  to  ignore  a  weaker  nation's  demand  that  its  case  be 
given  a  fair  hearing.  The  average  citizen  has  gathered  the 
impression  that  there  was  something  questionable,  at  least, 
in  our  seizure  of  the  Isthmus,  and  he  wants  the  mess  cleaned 
up.  I  am  inchned  to  credit  this  aroused  public  opinion 
mofe  to  our  awakening  commercial  consciousness  than  to 
a  stimulated  sense  of  abstract  justice,  though  both  forces 
have  been  conspicuously  active  in  the  few  years  that  have 
passed  since  it  was  virtually  impossible  to  obtain  a  hearing 
on  the  merit  of  Colombia's  claims.  We  have  waked  up  to 
a  realization  that  it  isn't  good  business  to  have  Latin  Amer- 
ica forever  pointing  to  our  treatment  of  Colombia  as  justi- 
fying its  aversion  to  "the  Great  Pig  of  the  North."  We 
have  been  experiencing  a  changed  attitude  toward  all  of 
Latin  America  with  the  approaching  opening  of  new  ave- 
nues of  trade  expansion ;  our  commercial  interests  recognize 
as  they  never  have  before,  that  they  have  misunderstood 
and  neglected  a  great,  undeveloped  world  of  opportunity 
southward,  and  that  self-interest  if  not  national  self-respect 


A   SETTLEAfENT   WITH   COLOMBIA  277 

demands  that  the  Panama  controversy,  as  an  ol)stacle  to 
cordial  relations,  should  he  settled  at  any  reasonable  cost — 
and  settled  before  the  opening  of  the  Canal. 

Our  question  is,  then,  no  longer  shall  we  settle  with  Co-  ) 
lombia  but  how  can  we  settle?— and  by  settlement  I  meaii 
not  merely  the  award  and  collection  of  damages,  not  the 
enforced  payment  of  a  ledger  account  ten  years  past  due, 
but  such  an  adjustment  as  shall  satisfy  the  injured  pride  of 
a  despoiled  and  affronted  nation,  and  rehabilitate  the 
United  States  in  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  our  southern 
neighbors. 

How  generous,  how  far-reaching  that  adjustment  should 
be  in  order  that  it  may  meet  the  requirements  of  inter- 
national justice  and  at  the  same  time  serve  effectively  to 
accomplish  the  essential  material  results,  is  a  problem  that 
calls  for  sober  thought  and  helpful,  sympathetic  counsel 
both  within  and  without  governmental  circles.  We  need 
a  more  intelligent  and  general  comprehension,  in  the  United 
States  and  in  Colombia,  of  the  rights  and  wrongs  of  the 
Panama  question,  if  we  are  to  have  a  public  opinion  that  will 
recognize  and  support  a  just  and  effective  settlement.  And 
in  endeavoring  to  create  an  enlightened  public  opinion  we 
shall  be  discouraged  at  times,  I  fear,  by  the  obstinacy  of 
certain  prejudices — particularly  the  prejudices  of  those 
persons  who  have  been  content  to  accept  without  proof 
the  diplomatic  version  of  the  Panama  affair. 

The  situation  we  must  meet  is  set  forth  very  concisely 
in  a  recent  editorial  in  the  Chicago  Tribune,  which  I  will 
read: 

Colombia's  grievances  against  the  United  States  have  always 
found  a  closed  door  because  of  the  prevailinj:;  American  opinion 
that  there  could  l)c  no  equity'  in  the  claims  of  a  nation  caught  so 
openly  in  sharp  and  dishonest  practices.  The  Roosevelt  retort, 
fostering  and  protecting  the  Republic  of  Panama,  was  accepted 
generally  as  a  piece  of  larger  justice,  and  Colombia,  raging  in  its 
discomtiture,  was  observed  with  amusement. 

Coloml)ians  have  never  ceased  to  press  their  demand  for  arbi- 
tration, and  it  has  been  an  unusual  procedure  for  the  United  States 
to  be  deaf  to  such  an  appeal.  The  prevailinj;  opinion  that  a  small 
rascal  hurt  by  his  own  tricks  was  the  plaintiff  explains  the  indif- 
ference and  obduracy  here. 


278 


EARL   HARDING 


It  is  reported  now  that  Secretary  Bryan  is  willing  to  accept 
the  demand  for  arbitration.  It  is  altogether  better  so;  better 
policy  and  fair  justice.  The  United  States  should  give  Colombia 
a  chance  to  put  its  loss  in  figures  and  present  a  statement  of  its 
damages  to  an  impartial  court.  If  it  have  in  equity  a  claim  for 
damages  the  claim  should  be  met.  A  nice  regard  for  our  national 
honor  requires  at  least  a  hearing. 

This  editorial  is  literally  true.  Ten  years'  denial  of  even 
a  hearing  can  be  attributed  to  a  popular  impression  that 
this  charge  of  attempted  blackmail  against  Colombia  was 
just.  The  accusation  was  false — so  devoid  of  a  basis  of 
real  fact  that  to  its  denial  might  be  coupled  all  the  quah- 
fying  adjectives  that  we  have  heard  so  often  with  the  short 
and  ugly  word.  The  charge  was  foisted  first  upon  the  pub- 
he  through  the  sinister  activities  of  the  Panama  Canal 
Company's  lawyer  and  lobbyist,  whose  amazing  confession 
that  he  bent  to  his  employers'  selfish  ends  the  Congress, 
the  President  and  the  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States, 
is  a  document  of  public  record. 

I  have  searched  the  record  of  diplomatic  correspondence 
transmitted  to  the  United  States  senate,  the  Spanish  version 
of  the  same  records  and  Colombia's  instructions  to  her  dip- 
lomatic representatives  in  the  archives  of  the  foreign  office 
at  Bogota,  the  annals  of  the  Colombian  congress  and  the 
files  of  the  Colombian  papers  of  the  period,  and  I  find  no 
vestige  of  justification,  official,  semi-official  or  unofficial, 
for  this  accusation  of  attempted  blackmail  against  the 
United  States.  Yet  it  is  upon  this  charge,  iterated  by  a 
selfish  and  corrupt  lobby  and  reiterated  as  cumulative 
slander  by  a  man  who  should  be  aware  of  the  truth — upon 
this  accusation  supported  by  no  more  than  the  assertion 
of  interested  persons,  has  public  opinion  hostile  even  to  a 
hearing  «of  the  case  been  maintained  in  the  United  States. 

A  still  more  humihating  aspect  of  the  truth  is  that  the 
only  suggestion  that  would  warrant  the  assumption  of  a 
contemplated  "hold-up"  was  not  directed  against  the 
United  States,  but  against  the  French  Panama  Canal  Com- 
pany, or  the  holders  of  its  securities,  who  in  certain  proved 
instances  were  speculative  bankers  in  Wall  Street.  Colom- 
bia never  demanded,  nor  so  much  as  officially  or  unofficially 


A   SETTLEMENT  WITH   COLOMBIA  279 

suggested  after  the  ratification  in  Washington  of  the  Hay- 
Herran  treaty  that  the  $10,000,000  payment  by  the  United 
States  should  be  increased.  The  Panama  Canal  Company's 
lobbyist,  boasting  that  he  drafted  the  diplomatic  corres- 
pondence of  our  state  department  relating  to  this  subject, 
and  claiming  pay  from  his  employers  for  this  alleged  service, 
pointed  out  in  writing  that  he  foresaw  that  Colombia  con- 
templated exacting  a  fee  of  probably  .$10,000,000  for  the 
privilege  of  transferring  the  company's  non-transferable 
and  nearly  lapsed  concession.  The  Canal  lobby  in  Wash- 
ington then  set  up  the  cry  that  Colombia  was  attempthig 
to  blackmail  the  United  States. 

Proof  of  these  assertions  has  been  a  pubhc  record  for 
nearly  two  years,  and  still  a  few  editorial  pages  that  are 
supposed  to  represent  the  enlightened  public  opinion  of  the 
United  States  occasionally  reiterate  this  charge  that  Colom- 
bia was  caught  red-handed  trying  to  blackmail  the  United 
States,  and  that  therefore  this  great  nation  can  afford  to 
ignore  the  Httle  nation's  demand  for  justice. 

To  case-hardened  materialists  who  can  see  nothing  in 
international  righteousness  there  is  another  way  to  appeal — 
through  the  wiles  of  that  comely  handmaiden  of  Justice — 
Expediency.  We  can  "match  them  one  better,"  I  believe, 
on  their  argument  that  it  isn't  good  business  to  pay  for  a 
thing  twice.  We  may  win  them  to  an  interest  in  the  truth 
if  we  can  show  them  that,  having  paid  Panama  $10,000,000 
for  the  canal  rights,  we  can  also  pay  Colombia,  make  a  new 
arrangement  that  will  do  justice  all  around,  and  benefit 
ourselves  in  the  bargain. 

Taking  stock  first  of  our  own  necessities:  We  need  a 
wider  Canal  Zone.  Our  ten-mile  strip  across  the  Isthmus, 
with  the  cities  of  Panama  and  Colon  excluded  from  our 
jurisdiction,  was  planned  when  we  were  negotiating  with 
Colombia  and  knew  that  it  was  futile  to  ask  for  more.  After 
creating  the  Panama  Republic  we  might  have  asked  for 
and  received  as  much  additional  territoiy  as  expediency 
seemed  to  require,  since  it  was  the  original  purpose  of  the 
handful  of  American  and  Panamanian  conspirators  to  de- 
clare the  independence  of  only  the  Canal  Zone  itself,  which 


280  EARL   HARDING 

they  were  to  "bring  under  the  protection  of  the  United 
States. " 

Our  territorial  arrangement,  with  the  dual  government 
at  the  termini  of  the  Canal,  has  proved  to  be  so  unsatis- 
factory that  the  advisability  of  annexing  the  whole  Repub- 
lic has  been  contemplated  seriously  by  those  burdened 
with  the  responsibility  of  providing  for  the  Canal's  pro- 
tection. For  obvious  diplomatic  reasons  this  could  not  be 
admitted  officially;  nevertheless,  the  inconvenience  and 
the  inadequacy  of  our  arrangements  at  Panama  must  be 
apparent  to  anyone  giving  serious  consideration  to  the  mil- 
itary and  commercial  problems  and  possibilities  of  the 
Canal.  If  our  ultimate  necessities  are  not  obvious  now, 
project  yourselves  twenty-five  or  fifty  years  into  the  future, 
and  visualize  the  municipal  hodge-podge  that  must  result 
from  the  up-coming — I  will  not  say  growth  or  development— 
of  the  commercial  centers  at  the  termini  of  the  Canal  with 
the  separate  governments  and  cross-purposes  that  must 
obtain  so  long  as  Panama  and  Colon  are  excluded  from 
Canal  Zone  jurisdiction.  Contrast  this  with  the  metropoli 
that  should  be  developed  in  time  at  this  American-made 
Bosporus,  this  new  cross-roads  to  the  commerce  of  the  world, 
if  we  but  apply  world-sense  and  foresight  to  bringing  these 
cities  under  single-purposed  administration,  and  planning 
and  developing  them  as  the  great  free  port  of  the  Western 
hemisphere. 

For  working  out  our  military  problem  we  need  to  bring 
under  our  control  the  entire  watershed  of  the  Canal,  going 
back  to  the  headwaters  of  the  Chagres  River  to  the  South, 
and  north  to  the  limits  of  the  basin  of  Gatun  Lake — in  all 
a  Canal  Zone  50  to  60  miles  wide,  instead  of  10.  With 
the  possible  addition  of  the  Pearl  Islands,  this  enlarged 
zone  should  provide  all  of  our  ultimate  necessities  for  con- 
trolling the  military  approaches  to  the  Canal  and  develop- 
ing its  greatest  possibilities  as  a  commercial  center.  i\Ir. 
Lindon  W.  Bates,  on  whose  world-wide  experience  I  have 
been  privileged  to  draw,  and  whose  engineering  studies 
of  the  Panama  problem  are  familiar  probably  to  most  of 
us,  believes  that  ultimately  the  crossing  at  the  Isthmus 


A    SETTLEMENT    WITH    COLITMBIA  281 

should  sustain  a  population  of  1,000,000,  and  that  ade- 
quate preparations  in  the  waj''  of  city  planning  should  not 
be  deferred. 

It  seems  too  patent  for  argument  that  a  shifting  of  arrange- 
ments at  the  Isthmus  is  inevitable;  the  only  question  is 
when  should  it  be  accomplished. 

To  acquire  at  amj  convenient  time  the  territory  that  we 
ultimately  shall  need  for  Canal  purposes  could  not  reason- 
ably be  regarded  as  aggression,  but  if  it  could  be  obtained 
now  in  conjunction  with  a  readjustment  of  boundaries 
that  would  work  a  measure  of  justice  and  satisfaction  to 
Colombia,  would  it  not  appeal  to  the  Panamanians  as  a 
less  ruthless  procedure  than  the  taking  of  this  needed  terri- 
tory twenty-five  or  fifty  years  later,  when  the  next  genera- 
tion of  Panamanians  might  have  come  actually  to  believe 
in  the  fiction  that  they  established  their  own  independence? 

Until  within  the  last  three  or  four  years  Colombia  has 
cherished  the  vision  of  a  decree  of  international  justice  that 
should  restore  to  her  all  of  her  plundered  territory;  but 
nearly  every  Colombian  concedes  by  now  that  such  a  dream 
cannot  come  true. 

"Then  let  Colombia  set  down  her  claim  for  damages  in 
dollars  and  cents,  and  let  us  pay  it,"  is  the  next  suggestion. 

Will  you  please  remind  our  friends  who  believe  that  this 
is  the  way  to  clear  our  Canal  title  and  save  our  self-respect, 
that  gold  is  not  a  universal  ointment.  We  might  pay  ten 
million  dollars,  twenty,  fifty,  yes,  a  hundi-ed  millions  as 
indemnity;  we  might  say  in  effect,  "We  don't  think  we  owe 
you  this  money,  but  take  it  and  stoj)  making  all  this  fuss;" 
and  if  we  waited  long  enough  Colombia,  despairing,  might 
take  the  money — but  this  would  not  stop  the  fuss.  We 
might  think  we  had  removed  the  weapon  and  healed  the 
wound,  but  the  infected  barb  would  still  lie  buried  deep 
and  we  would  hear  from  it  year  after  year. 

We  might,  as  another  alternative,  after  ten  years  of  deny- 
ing the  facts  and  attempting  to  placate  our  accuser,  let  our- 
selves be  dragged  as  a  culprit  before  the  bar  of  international 
justice,  and  if  an  arbitral  court  gave  judgment  against  us, 
pay  it  with  the  protest  that  such  procedure  impHes. 


282  EARL   HARDING 

Suppose  your  brother — let  us  be  idealists,  concede  a 
brotherhood  of  nations,  and  apply  the  measure  of  brother- 
hood here — suppose  your  blood-brother  should  inflict  an 
irreparable  injury,  shoot  of!"  your  leg  or  arm,  say,  and  then 
deny  his  responsibility  and  say  never  a  word  of  regret  or 
sympathy;  then  at  the  end  of  ten  or  fifteen  years  you  should 
drag  him  into  court  and  make  him  pay — and  he  should  send 
you  a  check,  nothing  more,  no  regrets,  no  apology,  no  ''I 
am  sorry,  Brother,  it  was  unfortunate  and  was  wrong,  you 
were  at  fault  as  well  as  I,  but  let  us  be  freinds. "     Suppose! 

Now  this,  it  seems  to  me,  is  the  essence  of  our  Panama 
problem :  Unless  we  can  resolve  this  quarrel  so  as  to  remove 
the  causes  of  bitterness  and  leave  no  rancor  of  justice  denied, 
we  would  better  save  our  money  and  keep  the  question  an 
open  one  until  history  shall  give  us  a  fairer  perspective. 
Paying  an  indemnity  unaccompanied  by  an  acknowledg- 
ment that  would  satisfy  the  pride  of  the  Colombian  people, 
could  serve  no  more  practical  purpose  than  throwing  away 
our  money.  He  who  imagines  that  a  sop  of  money  alone 
would  accomplish  a  real  settlement  of  this  grievance  shows 
only  his  ignorance  of  the  people  with  whom  we  have  to 
reckon.  That  money  will  buy  anything  in  Latin  America, 
may  find  credence  among  those  who  form  their  judgments 
from  such  language  as  the  following,  applied  to  Colombia  by 
a  former  President  of  the  United  States:  "Government  by 
a  succession  of  banditti,"  an  ''archaic  despotism,  inefficient, 
bloody  and  corrupt;"  or  this  defense  of  the  "taking"  of 
Panama:  "We  did  our  duty  by  the  world,  we  did  our  duty 
by  the  people  of  Panama,  we  did  our  duty  by  ourselves. 
We  did  harm  to  no  one  save  as  harm  is  done  to  a  bandit  by 
a  policeman  who  deprives  him  of  his  chance  for  blackmail. 
The  United  States  has  many  honorable  chapters  in  its  his- 
tory but  no  more  honorable  chapter  than  that  which  tells 
of  the  way  in  which  our  right  to  dig  the  Panama  Canal  was 
secured  and  of  the  manner  in  which  the  work  itself  has 
been  carried  out." 

We  have  been  given  the  impression  that  the  Colombians 
are  a  lot  of  lazy,  blackmailing  savages;  few  of  us  have  had 
the  opportunity  to  see  with  our  own  eyes  the  culture  of  their 


I 


A   SETTLEMENT  WITH   COLOMBIA  283 

unique  chilization,  to  know  them  face  to  face  as  an  indus- 
trious, resourceful,  and  law-abiding  people.  I  wonder  how 
many  of  us  who  have  judged  Colombia  by  the  measure  of 
ex-official  denunciation  have  heard  that  Simon  Bolivar 
modeled  his  constitution  after  ours,  and  that  until  November, 
1903,  our  Declaration  of  Independence  and  the  portraits 
of  our  Presidents  had  honored  places  on  the  walls  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  at  Bogota,  and  that  after  the 
afifair  of  Panama  they  were  torn  down  and  thrown  into  the 
street? 

Money  will  not  bridge  such  a  gap  in  international  rela- 
tions, (^olombia  made  this  clear  by  rejecting  in  1909  the 
hated  tripartite  treaty  proposing  that  Panama  receive  re- 
cognition of  its  independence  and  contribute  $2,500,000 
as  its  share  of  the  Colombian  foreign  debt.  Colombia  ex- 
iled General  Rafael  Reyes,  president,  and  Enrique  Cortes, 
his  minister  to  Washington  who  negotiated  this  treaty. 
She  rejected  President  Taft's  tentative  offer  of  $10,000,000, 
ostensibly  for  coaling  station  privileges  and  an  option  on 
the  interoceanic  canal  route  via  the  Atrato  River.  She 
has  pressed  for  arbitration  as  the  only  self-respecting  course 
she  could  follow,  until  recent  developments  transferred  the 
negotiations  to  Bogota,  where  a  committee  of  various  polit- 
ical parties  r^^presenting  the  foreign  office  is  now  dealing 
directly  with  the  American  minister. 

For  ten  years  the  Panama  question  has  taken  precedence 
over  every  other  issue  in  the  Colombian  press.  The  trend 
of  discussion  within  the  last  month  is  indicated  in  an  illu- 
minating though  possibly  premature  item  in  one  of  the 
latest  Bogota  papers,  from  which  I  read,  in  translation : 

Insistent  rumor  points  to  the  very  strong  probability  that  there 
have  been  signed  in  Washington,  approved  and  signed  here  by  the 
ministr>'  and  ratified  by  the  commission  of  foreign  relations,  an 
understaiiding  with  the  United  States  consummated  on  the  fol- 
lowing bases: 

1.  Tho  government  of  the  United  States  shall  declare  before 
the  diplomatic  corps  in  Washington  that  it  owes  reparation  to 
Colombia,  for  having  trampled  upon  her  rights  during  a  fonner 
administration. 

2.  A  t  the  opening  of  the  Canal,  the  first  American  ships  to  pass 
throu'jjh  shall  display  the  Colombian  flag. 


284  EARL   HARDING 

3.  Colombian  ships  shall  be  guaranteed  in  perpetuity  free  pas- 
sage through  the  Canal. 

4.  The  boundary  of  Colombia  shall  be  extended  to  the  Canal 
Zone. 

5.  The  United  States  shall  pav  to  Colombia  as  indemnity 
$20,000,000. 

6.  Matters  in  dispute  relating  to  the  Panama  Railroad  shall  be 
submitted  to  arbitration. 

I  have  a  strong  conviction  that  the  Panama  question 
should  be  kept  out  of  a  court  of  arbitration,  excepting  as  it 
may  be  agreed  possibly  to  submit  collateral  subjects:  for  a 
general  arbitration,  bringing  solely  a  judgment  for  pecuniary 
damages,  could  not  result  happily.  It  would  cause  inevi- 
table delay  and  tremendvous  expense,  and  would  profit 
mainly  the  lawyers  and  press-agents  who  have  attempted 
with  scandalous  effrontery  to  sell  political  influence,  or  pre- 
tended influence,  to  Colombia's  representatives.  It  is  to 
avoid  such  attempts  at  bartering  international  justice,  and 
not  for  what  might  be  unearthed  at  The  Hague,  that  I  have 
urged  that  the  campaign  to  force  the  question  to  general 
arbitration  should  not  be  approved. 

Colombia  feels  the  injury  to  her  pride  more  than  the  loss 
to  her  purse.  She  has  held,  and  will  continue  to  hold,  the 
question  of  indemnity  secondary  to  recoguition  -that  her 
national  honor  was  violated. 

I  have  been  reminded  that  not  many  persons  in  the  Uni- 
ted States  are  inclined  to  take  seriously  the  idea  of  national 
honor  in  one  of  the  southern  republics,  and  particularly 
not  in  Colombia.  All  the  more  then  should  wo  regret  our 
ignorance!  A  people  who  fight  three  years,  lo^>mg  80,000 
men  out  of  their  total  population  of  4,000,000,  piling  on  one 
battlefield,  where  15,000  perished  a  huge  monument  of  sun- 
bleached  skulls  that  stands  to  this  day  a  grim  reminder  of 
their  last  civil  war — a  people  who  can  fight  like  this  over 
the  issue  of  a  usurper,  a  free  press  and  religious  liberty — do 
you  think  it  becomes  us  to  sneer  at  their  ideals  and,  speaking 
with  no  knowledge  of  the  facts  jump  to  the  conclusion  that 
they  have  no  national  honor? 

To  make  amends  that  will  meet  Colombia's  require^ments 
and  not  meet  the  antagonism  of  the  prejudiced  and  ill- 
informed  of  our  own  country — how  can  we  accomplish  that? 

\ 


V 

\ 


A   SETTLEMENT   WITH   COLOMBIA  285 

The  most  acceptable  reparation  for  theft  is  return  of  the 
stolen  property;  if  not  intact,  then  so  much  as  can  be  re- 
covered, with  some  equi\'alent  for  the  remainder. 

Panama  entire  we  cannot  restore;  Colombia  does  not 
expect  it;  but  what  is  there  to  prevent  handing  back  to  her 
in  frank  recognition  of  her  violated  sovereignty,  that  part 
of  Panama  south  of  the  Zone?  The  Canal  would  then 
become  the  geographical  as  well  as  actual  dividing  line 
between  the  continents.  Colombia  would  be  restored  to 
the  prestige  of  contiguity  to  the  waterway.  If  the  Zone 
were  widened  to  the  headwater  of  the  Chagres  the  possi- 
i)ility  of  administrative  friction  would  be  very  remote. 

There  is  a  veiy  practical  advantage  both  to  Panama  and 
to  the  United  States  in  restoring  the  southern  end  of  the 
Isthmus  to  the  mother  country.  Its  inhabitants,  the  San 
Bias  Indians,  deiy  the  authority  of  the  Republic  of  Panama 
and  still  maintain  their  loyalty  to  Colombia.  Would  our 
jingoes  rather  have  the  San  Bias  Indians  friendly  Colom- 
bians or  hostile  Panamanians,  neighbors  to  the  Gatun  locks 
by  one  night's  journey? 

The  most  likely  objector  to  the  restoration  of  southern 
Panama  to  Colombia  is  an  American  who  was  given  a  few 
hundred  thousand  acres  of  this  land  as  a  reward  for  his  gen- 
eralship in  that  revolution  of  bloody  memories — total 
killed  and  wounded,  one  jackass,  one  Chinaman!  I  know 
something  of  this  territory  whereof  I  speak.  Cruising  down 
the  coast  thirty  or  forty  miles,  thence  U])  the  broad  miasmic 
Bayano  River,  I  found  the  alligator  preserves  of  this  Pan- 
American  patriot.  I  had  to  go  to  see  him  there  because 
on  the  day  we  arrived  in  Panama  with  an  order  of  court  to 
take  testimony  as  to  the  real  history  of  the  secession,  J. 
Domingo  Obaldia,  then  president  of  the  Republic,  had 
written  his  faithful  servitor  this  note: 

My  dear  General;  You  will  please  make  it  convenient  to  visit 
your  hacienda  in  Chepo  and  remain  mitil  further  orders. 

The  General  was  not  expecting  "further  orders"  until 
the  bothersome  inquisitors  should  be  well  on  their  way  back 
to  New  York;  much  less  did  he  expect  me. 


286  EARL   HARDING 

Admitting  that  this  territory  is  inconsequential  to  Panama 
and  of  no  great  intrinsic  value  to  Colombia,  it  would  become 
in  its  restoration  to  the  mother  country  an  instrument  of 
tremendous  importance.  Its  restoration  would  appeal  to 
every  son  of  Colombia  who  resents  the  epithets  "black- 
mailer" and  "bandit,"  and  to  whom  the  humiliation  of 
national  dismemberment  means  a  personal  affront;  it  would 
be  to  the  Colombian  tangible  proof  that  the  justice  of  his 
country's  claims  had  been  at  last  recognized  before  the 
world.  Restitution  of  so  much  territorj^  would  open  the 
way  for  a  frank  and  friendly  discussion  of  the  ledger  account 
of  damages  for  property  that  cannot  be  returned;  it  would 
be  a  step  toward  a  genuine  settlement. 

"But  what  about  the  Panamanians  and  their  rights?" 
we  are  asked.  "Are  you  going  to  rob  the  Panamanian 
Peter  to  pay  the  Colombian  Paul?" 

As  to  the  moral  rights  of  the  Panamanians  how  extensive 
are  they,  in  view  of  the  deceit  by  which  the  congress  and 
people  of  the  United  States  were  led  to  recognize  their  make- 
believe  Republic  on  the  assurance  that  they  "rose  literally 
as  one  man?"  In  truth,  a  handful  of  conspirators,  nearlj' 
everyone  an  employee  of  the  Canal  Company,  and  the  real 
leaders  being  American  citizens,  were  all  who  knew  about  a 
revolutionary  movement  until  the  "blow"  was  struck. 
The  Panamanians,  through  their  self-appointed  leaders, 
knowingly  surrendered  themselves  hostages  to  exigency, 
to  serve  the  purposes  of  the  United  States.  Have  they 
then  moral  grounds  for  expecting  more  than  scrupulous 
fairness  and  sure  protection  from  the  vengence  of  the  mother 
country? 

And  if  we  seek  to  shroud  the  infant  Republic  in  an  aura 
of  sentiment,  can  we  find  any  inspiration  in  the  sordid  story 
of  purchased  treason — so  much  per  general,  so  much  per 
colonel,  so  much  per  soldier,  with  later  a  riotous  distribution 
of  easily-acquired  American  gold  among  the  patriots  of  this 
soul-stirring  war  for  liberty?  If  we  hesitate  to  suggest 
infringing  the  area  of  Panama's  sovereignty  out  of  respect 
for  sentiments  of  nationalism,  should  we*  not  recall  that 
Panama's  span  of  pseudo-independence  is  but  a  decade, 


A   SETTLEMENT   WITH   COLOMBIA  287 

while  Colombia  recently  celebrated  her  centennial  of  consti- 
tutional self-government? 

The  Panamanian  Peter  would  be  divested  of  the  form  but 
not  the  substance  of  the  material  benefits  for  which  he  con- 
sented to  make  a  perfectly  safe  revolution,  under  the  pre- 
arranged protection  of  the  United  States.  American  ad- 
ministration and  development  of  the  terminal  cities  would 
be  to  his  advantage.  He  would  still  have  to  the  north  of 
the  Canal  Zone  the  richest  part — more  than  half — of  his 
present  domain,  where  he  could  exercise  his  genius  for  self- 
government  with  much  more  freedom  than  Uncle  Sam  can 
ever  allow  him  in  the  midst  of  the  Canal  Zone. 

So  far  as  it  affects  the  terminal  cities  and  watershed,  or 
any  other  portion  of  the  Panama  Republic  which  the  United 
States  may  require,  such  a  programme  of  readjustment  is 
e^asy  to  arrange  under  the  following  clause  of  the  Hay- 
Hunau-Varilla  Treaty: 

The  Republic  of  Panama  further  grants  to  the  United  States 
in  perpetuity  the  use,  occupation,  and  control  of  any  other  lands 
and  waters  outside  of  the  zone  above  described  which  may  be 
necessary  and  convenient  for  the  construction,  maintenance,  opera- 
tion, sanitation,  and  protection  of  the  said  canal. 

In  substance  we  agreed  to  maintain  Panama's  indepen- 
dence, but  not  necessarily  the  integrity  of  her  then,  and  still, 
undefined  territory,  the  boundary  at  each  end  of  the  Re- 
public being  in  question. 

Ten  years  of  administrative  experience,  fraught  with 
friction  and  petty  annoyances,  show  not  only  the  conven- 
ience but  the  ultimate  necessity  for  a  single  administration 
to  insure  the  most  advantageous  development  of  the  canal 
as  a  commercial  enterprise;  the  military  reasons  for  con- 
trolling the  watershed  are  also  obvious. 

Whether  legally  we  could  impose  upon  Panama  the  al- 
ternative of  restoring  the  San  Bias  region  to  Colombia  or 
incurring  tlie  displeasure  of  the  United  States,  I  leave  to  the 
Internationalists  as  a  question  not  likely  to  call  for  their 
answer,  since  a  suggestion  from  Washington  would  doubt- 
less be  sufficient  to  secure  Panama's  cheerful  acquiescence. 

The  editorials  that  followed  the  publication  of  this  sug- 


288  EARL  HARDING 

gested  plan  of  settlement  must  have  been  a  revelation  to 
those  who  have  no  faith  in  the  ultimate  awakening  of  public 
opinion  in  this  country.  Only  two  papers  out  of  some  thirty 
or  more  whose  editorial  comment  has  been  called  to  my 
attention,  presumed  to  deny  contemptuousl}^  that  Colombia 
has  a  just  claim. 

One  of  them  is  the  Kansas  City  Star,  the  organ  of  the 
Progressive  party  in  that  part  of  the  country.  The  Star 
repeats  the  charge  of  blackmail  as  the  final  answer  to  Co- 
lombia, and  declares  that  the  taking  of  Panama  under  the 
circumstances  ''is  held  by  the  American  people  as  one  of 
the  most  noteworthy  achievements  of  a  noteworthy  career. " 

The  other  publication  that  does  not  concede  that  we  have 
anything  to  settle  with  Colombia  is  the  Outlook  which  in 
its  issue  of  October  11  says  in  part: 

The  people  of  Panama  were  unanimous  in  their  revolt  against 
Colombia,  and  the  authority  of  Colombia  collapsed  in  a  night 
because  she  had  neither  moral  nor  physical  power  to  enforce  her 
authority.  The  people  of  this  country  will  never  concede  that 
Colombia  has  a  shadow  of  a  claim  against  the  United  States  for 
its  prompt  recognition  of  an  oppressed  people  struggling  for  their 
rights.  A  queer  idea  of  justice  to  Colombia  is  this  proposal  to 
attempt  to  satisfy  her  national  pride  and  reconcile  her  warring 
factions  with  one  another  and  with  the  United  States  by  a  Poland- 
like division  of  the  territory  of  a  people  who  have  shown  their 
right  to  liberty  by  daring  to  fight  for  it. 

I  wonder  how  the  editor  of  The  Outlook  could  write  such  a 
statement,  with  the  picture  before  him  of  that  bloody  revo- 
lution in  which  the  total  casualties — and  those  accidental- 
were  one  jackass  and  one  Chinaman! 

The  speaker  preceding  me  has  urged  us  to  remember  that 
the  Canal  cannot  be  a  blessing  to  us  while  its  title  is  clouded 
by  an  unrighteous  act.  I  believe  we  must  go  farther,  and 
realize  that  its  material  advantages  cannot  be  ours  until  we 
shall  have  made  a  just  settlement  with  the  nation  from 
whom  we  took  the  right  to  build  it.  Recent  editorial  ex- 
pressions indicate  that  a  considerable  number  of  people  are 
more  impressed  with  the  idea  of  providing  for  our  own  ul- 
timate necessities  at  Panama  than  with  the  doing  of  abstract 
justice  to  Colombia  for  Justice's  sake.     If  we  can  get  their 


1 


A  SETTLEMENT  WITH  COLOMBIA  289 

support  in  no  other  way,  then  let  us  reconcile  Justice  with 
Expediency,  and  while  doing  no  injustice  to  Panama,  re- 
adjust our  relations  in  a  way  to  do  full  justice  to  Colombia, 
and  to  secure  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  the  full 
benefits  of  the  Canal. 


THE  RELATIONS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  WITH 
THE  LATIN-AMERICAN  REPUBLICS 

By    Leopold    Grahame,  formerly    editor    of    "The    Buenos 

Aires  Herald^'  and  of  "The  Argentine 

Year  Book'' 

To  discuss  the  ''Relations  of  the  United  States  with  the 
Latin- American  RepubUcs"  without  deaUng  with  the  con- 
ditions and  policies  which  govern  them,  would  be  merely 
to  re-affirm  the  noble  and  elevated  sentiments  expressed 
by  the  acts  and  declarations  of  the  illustrious  Presidents 
of  the  United  States,  from  James  Monroe  do^y^Ti  to  the  pres- 
ent eminently  distinguished  incumbent  of  that  exalted  office. 

The  relations  of  the  United  States  with  the  Latin  repub- 
lics of  the  American  continent,  are  based  upon  a  mutual 
sympathy  for  those  liberty-loving  principles,  essential  to 
the  greatness  of  any  modem  nation.  It  is  a  fundamental 
error  to  suppose  that  friendship  with  one  nation  implies 
the  estrangement  of  another.  The  specific  character  of 
international  relations  differs  according  to  the  traditions 
and  antecedents  of  the  people  and  to  the  more  material 
factors  in  their  intercourse.  The  Latin  republics,  whilst 
indebted  to  a  heroic  generation  of  their  own  race  for  their 
emancipation  from  the  yoke  of  colonial  serfdom,  owe  the 
firm  establishment  and  maintenance  of  their  justly-claimed 
independence  to  the  sympathies  and  active  support  of  the 
people  and  osiAy  governments  of  the  United  States  who  ini- 
tiated the  policy  which  has  made  this  country-  the  champion 
of  sovereign  rights  throughout  the  American  continent  and 
the  guide  of  the  younger  nations  in  the  evolution  of  their 
political  conceptions  and  aspirations. 

Those  nations  recognize  with  gratitude  the  help  thus 
extended  to  them  in  their  struggles  for  freedom  and  organic 
constitution;  and  they  also  recognize  that  in  safeg-uarding 

290 


RELATIONS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  WITH  LATIN  AMERICA    291 

American  independence  from  possible  foreign  foes,  the 
United  States  has  never  encroached  upon  their  individual 
Hberty.  Therefore,  all  the  antecendents  and  all  the  tradi- 
tions impel  a  sincere  desire  on  their  part  for  the  development 
of  American  union,  by  harmony  of  thought  and  of  action 
with  the  great  representative  of  continental  integrity.  These 
are  the  links  of  gratitude  which  form  the  relations  of  the 
south  with  their  elder  sister  of  the  north. 

The  reciprocal  relations  are  to  be  found  in  the  similarity 
of  conditions  which  gave  birth  to  all  the  nations  of  America 
and  led  to  tlie  attainment  of  the  proud  position  they  occupy 
today  in  the  world's  affairs.  So,  as.  the  United  States  had 
to  conquer  savage  Indians,  to  suffer  war,  and  to  endure 
misery  and  great  sacrifices  in  the  effort  to  develop  the  re- 
sources of  vast  uninhabited  territories  and  to  establish  the 
principles  of  liberty  and  justice,  many  of  the  Latin  nations 
of  America  have  successfully  overcome  the  same  difficulties 
an<l  todaj''  are  in\'iting  the  rest  of  the  world  to  add  to  their 
developments  and  to  share  their  wealth.  These  are  the 
sources  whence  have  spnmg  the  friendship  and  sympathy  of 
the  United  States  for  those  ardent  democracies.  It  is  that 
touch  of  human  nature  which  makes  us  all  kin.  It  is  that 
inborn  sentiment  of  admiration  for  high  and  just  ideals 
which  arouses  in  the  minds  of  educated  Englishmen  of  the 
present  time,  a  reverential  respect  for  the  memoiy  of  the 
great  men  who  framed  and  signed  the  Declaration  of  Amer- 
ican Indejiendence.  It  is  the  same  spirit  which  inspires 
Spain  to  delight  in  the  triumph  of  her  truant  children  across 
the  seas  and  in  the  magic  awakening  of  Ibero-America. 
It  is  tlie  conquest  of  the  arts  of  peace  and  of  tnic  civiliza- 
tion over  the  feudalism  and  barbarism  of  the  past.  It  is 
the  worship  of  the  Statue  of  Liberty  gazing  out  from  ever>' 
harbour  of  the  American  continent;  and  it  is  upon  the  foun- 
dation of  s>^npathy  and  friendshij)  arising  out  of  that  lofty 
conception  of  true  democracy,  that  American  unity  is  being 
built  up  and  the  relations  of  all  the  American  countries 
defined  and  maintainei^l. 

It  has  been  urged  that  the  phenomenal  progress  of  the 
greater  countries  of  Soutli  America  has  merged  this  senti- 


292  LEOPOLD  GRAHAME 

mental  view  into  more  practical  considerations;  but  those 
who  are  acquainted  with  enlightened  public  opinion  in 
Latin  America,  regard  the  suggestion  as  devoid  of  all  real 
foundation.  The  nations  of  the  new  continent  should  not 
and  will  not  forget  that  from  Great  Britain  they  have  re- 
ceived the  bulk  of  the  capital  which  has  given  vitaUty  to 
their  currents  of  commerce  and  industrj'^;  and  that  from  other 
European  countries  they  have  secured  the  laborers  to  sow 
and  reap  their  abundant  harv-ests;  but  these  conditions  in 
no  way  impede  an  extension  of  friendly  relations  with  the 
United  States,  looking  towards  further  progress,  increased 
trade,  and  a  policy  whereby  to  consolidate  the  destinies  of 
all  the  American  nations. 

The  causes  which  have  chiefly  operated  to  restrict  the 
social  and  commercial  intercourse  of  the  southern  countries 
with  the  United  States,  are  the  difficulties  of  distance  and 
the  lack  of  direct  means  of  communication,  but,  above  all, 
a  mutual  want  of  knowledge  of  the  conditions,  of  the 
desires,  and  of  the  widelj^  divergent  racial  characteristics 
of  the  people  respectively  inhabiting  the  two  divisions  of 
the  continent.  It  is  this  ignorance  of  essential  conditions, 
prevailing  throughout  America,  that  has  led  to  international 
misunderstandings,  to  misconceptions  and  to  doubts  and 
suspicions,  which  have  militated  against  an  extension  of 
commercial  and  friendly  relations,  so  necessarj"*  to  the  wel- 
fare of  the  entire  continent.  If  that  not  inconsiderable 
number  of  people  in  the  United  States  who  associate  the 
term  "South  America"  with  all  the  elements  of  disorder 
and  dishonesty;  and  those  people  of  Latin  America  who  re- 
gard the  policy  of  the  United  States  as  being  dictated  by 
the  ultimate  purpose  of  territorial  conquest  and  other  sel- 
fish objects,  were  to  examine  the  records  of  history  and  the 
actually  existing  circumstances,  there  would  be  a  change 
of  conditions  that  would  give  to  the  word  "America"  an 
interpretation  signifying  the  highest  ideals  of  justice,  of 
peace,  and  of  progress. 

Warm-hearted,  impulsive,  and  eager  for  political  emanci- 
pation, the  Latin- American  people  have  invariably  sub- 
ordinated   material    advantage  to    social    and  intellectual 


RELATIONS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  WITH  LATIN  AMERICA    293 

development;  and  if,  througli  the  initial  error,  in  some  eases, 
of  implanting  laws  and  institutions  in  advance  of  tlieir  times, 
turbulent  political  conditions  were  produced  during  anx- 
ious periods  of  their  national  formation,  their  latter-day- 
progress  in  every  field  of  human  activity  demonstrates  their 
capacity  for  self-goveniment  and  the  possession  of  those  rare 
qualities  which  make  for  national  greatness  in  the  fullest 
sense  of  those  words.  The  basic  conditions  of  all  the 
Latin  republics  are  identical;  and  the  solid  advance  which 
has  been  made  by  Argentina,  Brazil  and  Chile,  will  assuredly 
be  repeated  in  the  republics  of  lesser  im^Jortance,  in  a  de- 
gree corresponding  to  their  opportunities,  their  geographical 
situation  and  the  extent  of  their  resources.  All  of  those 
countries  have  suffered  and  have  had  their  national  forces 
weakened  by  the  many  uprisings  which  followed  their  libera- 
tion; but  most  of  them  have  realized  the  necessity  for  dis- 
carding their  factional  colors;  and,  under  a  common  flag, 
to  unite  in  diverting  their  energies  from  revolutionary  ac- 
tivity, to  the  more  beneficial  course  of  developing  their 
national  industries,  of  advancing  their  intellectual  move- 
ments, and  of  directing  their  legislation  towards  securing 
freedom  and  the  highest  form  of  protection  for  the  interests 
of  those  who  inhabit  their  territories.  The  people  of  those 
lands  are  now  dedicating  their  efforts  to  objects  which  exalt 
the  human  mind  and  give  high  rank  to  nations.  They 
cherish  the  principles  of  hberty,  within  the  limits  of  order, 
and  they  are  striving  for  continued  progress  under  consti- 
tutional and  honest  governments. 

Practically,  all  their  constitutions  are  modelled  upon  the 
lines  of  the  mapiificent  instrument  which  has  made  this 
country  great  and  free;  and,  I  need  only  point  to  the  first 
provision  of  the  national  Constitution  of  the  Argentine 
Republic,  to  show  the  breadth  of  the  principles  upon  which 
the  sovereignty  of  that  couutrj'  was  founded.  Its  primary 
objects  are  declared  to  be: 

to  create  national  unity,  to  consolidate  justice  and  internal  peace, 
to  provide  for  the  common  tlefoncc,  to  i)romote  the  general  wel- 
fare; and  to  assure  the  benefits  of  liberty  to  us,  to  our  dc^scendants 
and  to  all  the  people  of  the  world  who  may  reside  in  Argentine 
territory. 


294  LEOPOLD      GRAHAME 

Nor  is  this  charter  of  the  people's  rights  and  liberty 
a  mere  matter  of  theory.  The  principles  it  embodies  have 
been  carried  into  practice  in  every  form  of  legislation.  In 
that  republic,  as  in  others  of  Latin  America,  there  is  ab- 
solute civil  and  religious  freedom;  there  are  no  restrictions 
upon  healthy  immigration,  or  upon  the  nationality  of  land- 
owners. The  naturalization  laws  are  liberal  enough  to  en- 
able foreigners  of  merit  to  hold  official  positions  without 
regard  to  the  customary  residential  qualifications;  the  pa- 
triotic and  other  national  celebrations  of  the  inhabitants 
of  foreign  birth,  are  respected,  and  even  participated  in, 
by  the  sons  of  the  soil;  and,  side  by  side  with  this  remarkable 
development  of  free  institutions,  there  is  an  earnest  and  deep- 
ly-rooted desire  that  whilst  internal  peace  is  being  thus  con- 
solidated, there  should  be  no  causes  for  suspicion,  or  inter- 
national conflicts  amongst  the  American  nations. 

All  the  people  of  Latin  America  regard  as  paramount  to 
every  other  consideration,  the  integrity  of  their  national 
territory  and  their  complete  independence;  and,  influenced 
by  those  sentiments,  it  is  hardly  surprising  that  they  should 
have  misunderstood  the  motives  underlying  the  occasional 
exercise  of  vigorous  diplomatic  action  on  the  part  of  the 
United  States  in  her  past  relations  with  some  of  the  less- 
advanced  countries  of  Latin  America.  Recent  events  have 
shown,  beyond  question,  that  the  true  policy  of  the  United 
States  in  regard  to  the  Latin  nations  of  America,  is  to  assist 
in  their  peaceful  and  progressive  development,  without 
encroachment  upon  their  sovereignty  or  upon  their  inde- 
pendence; but  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  most  valued 
interests  of  this  countrj^  would  be  imperilled  by  a  condition 
of  chronic  disturbance  within  the  borders  of  some  of  its 
neighbors. 

American  action  in  Cuba,  demonstrates  that  the  acqui- 
sition, by  conquest,  of  the  territory  of  any  of  the  Latin 
republics,  is  repellent  to  the  principles  of  the  clearly  defined 
attitude  of  the  United  States  towards  the  southern  countries. 
The  policies  of  Rush,  of  Henry  Clay,  of  Monroe,  of  Lincoln, 
of  Blaine,  and  of  other  great  apostles  of  American  liberty, 
are  being  continued  today  by  all  the  recognized  leaders 


REL.\TIONS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  WITH  I^\TIN  AMERICA     295 

of  American  thought.  For  the  first  time  in  the  history-  of 
the  United  States,  that  great  man,  Eliliu  Root,  laid  aside 
his  important  duties  as  secretary  of  state,  to  preacli  the 
gospel  of  Pan-Americanism  throughout  Latin  America. 
His  distinguished  successor,  Williams  Jennings  Brj^an, 
inspired  by  similar  motives,  traveled  through  thousands 
of  miles  of  the  continent  to  assure  the  Ibero-Americans  of 
the  friendly  sym])athy  of  the  great  republic  of  the  north 
with  their  ligitimate  aspirations.  That  eminent  citizen, 
ex-President  Roosevelt,  is,  at  the  present  moment,  devoting 
his  labors  and  his  energy  to  the  self-imposed  task  of  assisting 
the  international  union  which  is  the  hope  of  all  good  Ameri- 
cans; and  to  this  brilliant  roll  there  must  now  be  added  the 
honored  name  of  the  present  illustrious  chief  executive  of 
the  United  States,  President  Wilson.  Onl}^  a  few  days  ago, 
that  faitliful  servant  of  the  people,  speaking  with  all  the 
responsibility  of  his  position  and  with  all  the  sincerity  which 
marks  his  everj^  utterance,  declared  the  policy  of  his  admin- 
istration, in  relation  to  the  republics  of  the  western  liemi- 
sphere,  to  be  one  of  morality  and  justice,  against  political 
or  financial  expediency.  That  declaration  of  the  Presi- 
dent whose  disregard  of  material  advantage  for  the  en- 
forcement of  high-minded  principles,  will  add  lustre  and 
prestige  to  the  name  of  the  United  States  in  the  council 
of  nations,  should  be  printed  in  letters  of  gold  througliout 
the  .American  continent. 

In  the  definition  of  the  policy  so  expressed,  Presi(ient 
Wilson  wisely  added  to  his  references  to  the  sister-republics 
the  statement,  that 

We  must  prove  ourselves  their  friends  and  champions  upon 
terms  of  equality  and  honor.  You  cannot  be  friencb?  upon  any 
other  terms  than  upon  the  terms  of  equality. 

That  is  the  key-note  of  the  whole  situation.  The 
cultured  and  sensitive  I^tin  mind  resents  condescension, 
domination,  or,  the  suggestion  of  inequality.  Prior  to  Sena- 
tor Root's  visit  to  South  America,  in  190G,  there  existed  a 
ver\'  wide  distrust  of  American  policy  which  was  intensi- 
fied by  international  rivalries  and  by  the  belief,  in   the 


296  LEOPOLD    GRAHAME 

Argentine  Republic,  arising  out  of  press  misrepresentations, 
that  the  United  States  had  designs,  as  the  result  of  a  supposed 
diplomatic  alhance  with  Brazil,  to  establish  a  hegemony 
in  that  part  of  the  continent.  Fortunately,  the  eloquent 
and  frank  declarations  of  the  state  secretary  to  the  efifect 
that  the  United  States  was  actuated  by  the  sole  purpose  of 
promoting  the  friendly  intercourse  of  all  the  American  re- 
publics; and  that  anything  in  the  nature  of  an  alliance  was 
opposed  to  the  policy  and  traditions  of  his  country,  pro- 
duced an  entire  revulsion  of  feeling  and  cemented  the  bonds 
of  that  friendship,  which  has  been  so  beautifully  manifested 
during  Colonel  Roosevelt's  recent  visit  to  that  favored  land. 
Such  incidents  point  clearly  to  the  conclusion  that  every 
serious  rupture  that  has  disturbed  the  friendly  relations  of 
the  United  States  with  the  other  republics,  has  been  due  to 
ignorance  of  actual  conditions,  or,  to  a  distortion  of  the 
real  facts  of  the  case. 

The  United  States  has  two  spheres  of  action  in  Latin 
America,  diplomatic  and  commercial;  and,  in  this  connec- 
tion, I  would  refer  to  a  matter  which  I  regard  as  of  the 
highest  importance  to  a  satisfactory  fulfilment  of  those 
missions.  With  a  natural  desire  to  enjoy  fitting  and  dig- 
nified representation  in  the  capitals  of  Europe,  the  United 
States  has  entrusted  its  principal  embassies  to  the  care  of  a 
long  succession  of  brilliant  men  who  have  worthily  repre- 
sented the  interests  and  maintained  the  traditions  of  this 
great  country;  but,  without  detracting  from  the  high  char- 
acter and  qualifications  of  the  many  distinguished  citi- 
zens to  whom  have  been  confined  the  diplomatic  missions 
to  the  smaller  countries  of  Latin  America,  it  may  be  said 
to  have  become  a  custom  to  regard  such  appointments  as 
altogether  of  minor  importance.  May  I  be  permitted  to 
suggest  that  the  services  of  the  great  diplomats  of  the 
United  States  are  more  needed  in  the  capitals  of  some  of 
the  republics  of  Central  and  South  America,  than  in  Lon- 
don, Paris,  Berlin,  Rome,  Madrid,  or  St.  Petersburg? 
It  is  not  complimentarj--  to  the  countries  which  have 
sent  to  Washington  such  distinguished  diplomats  and  inter- 
national jurists,  as  Nabuco,  Quesada,  Garcia  Merou,    Da 


RELATIONS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  WITH  LATIN  AMERICA    297 

Gama,  Naon,  and  others,  that  the  mere  suggestion  that 
men  of  the  type  of  Joseph  H.  Choate,  John  Hay,  James 
Russell  Lowell,  Wliitelaw  Reid,  or  David  Jayne  Hill,  should 
be  sent  to  represent  their  country  in  the  South  American 
republics,  would  be  p()])uliirly  regarded  as  ridiculous. 

There  are  many  other  factors  to  be  considered  in  the 
relations  of  the  United  States  with  the  sister  republics; 
and  one  of  the  most  important  of  these  is  the  approaching 
opening  of  the  Panama  Canal.  The  operation  of  that 
colossal  monument  to  American  enterprise,  will  bridge  the 
distance  and  remove  the  necessity  for  the  circuitous  routes 
of  travel  which  now  separate  the  north  from  the  south; 
and  will  produce  an  active  interchange  of  visits  that  will 
bring  the  people  of  the  two  races  into  closer  touch,  with  the 
result  that  their  better  mutual  knowledge  and  understand- 
ing of  character  and  conditions  will  lend  to  increased  asso- 
ciation and  friendship.  For  that  reason  alone,  it  is  impera- 
tively demanded  that  peace  and  order  should  be  established 
in  all  the  countries  adjacent  to  the  Canal  Zone.  That  con- 
dition of  affairs  is  indispensable  to  the  welfare  of  everj'-  part 
of  the  contiment.  Today,  all  countries  must  conform  to 
tlie  higher  order  of  civilization  imposed  upon  them  by  the 
exigencies  of  universal  peace  and  good  will.  The  minor 
republics  of  the  American  continent  have  many  beautiful 
examjiles  to  follow ;  and  for  these  they  have  only  to  look  to 
Argentina,  Brazil,  and  Chile,  whose  great  achievements 
in  everj'  jihase  of  national  effort  and  duty  have  evoked  the 
admiration  of  the  world  at  large.  In  a  corresponding 
degree  it  is  the  duty  of  those  less  fortunately  situated,  to 
enter  upon  the  same  fonvard  march,  in  order  that  they  may 
attain  the  position  to  which  their  traditions  and  their  re- 
sources entitle  them. 

It  is  a  happy  auguiy  for  the  future  that  the  sentiment 
of  American  union  is  gradually  rloposing  the  spirit  of  im- 
perialism which,  in  latter  years,  lias  found  favor  with  a 
small  section  of  the  American  people.  It  is  a  still  happier 
augur>'  that  increasing  interest  in  the  establishment  of  good 
relations  with  Latin  America,  is  being  promoted  by  such  dis- 
tinguished men  as  those  present  here  today  and  by  such 


298  LEOPOLD      GRAHAME 

institutions  as  this  great  university.  This  illuminating 
conference  constitutes  a  combination  of  enlightenment  and 
justice;  and  it  has  afforded  me  deep  gratification  to  partic- 
ipate in  the  furtherance  of  its  noble  aims  and  objects  which 
cannot  fail  to  be  productive  of  beneficial  results  to  the  cause 
of  Pan-Americanism.  The  influential  representation  of 
the  Pan-American  Union,  at  this  gathering,  affords  proof 
of  the  importance  and  worthiness  of  the  occasion;  and  I 
feel  sure  that  in  offering  a  tribute  of  admiration  to  the 
magnificent  services  of  its  Director-General,  John  Barrett — 
the  friend  and  ambassador  of  Latin  America — and  of  its 
Assistant  Director,  Senor  Ydnes,  in  the  propagation  of  the 
true  doctrine,  I  am  but  re-echoing  the  sentiments  of  all 
my  distinguished  fellow-guests  from  different  parts  of  the 
continent.  Through  the  Archipelago  of  the  Antilles,  through 
the  States  of  Central  America,  from  the  Rio  Grande  to  the 
Straits  of  Magellan,  and  from  Punta  Arenas  to  the  most 
eastern  extension  of  South  America,  there  will  be  a  profound 
appreciation  of  the  efforts  of  Clark  University  to  strengthen 
and  bind  in  friendly  union  all  the  nations  of  America. 


THE  MIND  OF  THE  LATIN-AMERICAN 

NATIONS  . 

By    David    Monti,    General  Correspondent   of  "El   Diario 
Ilustrado,"  Santiago,  Chile 

Before  starting  the  reading  of  this  paper  I  wish  to  make 
it  known  that  I  come  here  to  express  my  personal  views 
on  matters  referring  to  the  South  American  nations  and  not 
as  a  representative  of  any  institution  and  having  no  authority 
to  speak  in  behalf  of  my  government. 

This  paper,  which  has  been  prepared  at  short  notice,  will 
deal  especially  with  the  influence  of  the  United  States  and 
the  European  powers  upon  the  development  of  this  group 
of  republics  which  I  call  the  Latin-American  nation.  I  have 
entitled  this  paper  "The  Mind  of  the  Latin- American  Nation" 
because  my  purpose  is  to  deal  especially  with  the  foreign 
influence  on  the  making  up  of  the  Latin-American  soul  and 
not  with  the  development  of  our  industries  or  the  exploitation 
of  our  natural  resources  by  foreign  enterprise  and  capital. 

Whenever  I  make  my  statements  of  a  general  character,  I 
wish  it  to  be  understood  that  I  am  doing  so  by  inductive  logic 
because  I  think  that  many  of  the  problems  that  affect  my  own 
nation  are  common  problems  affecting  the  life  of  all  the 
Latin-American  countries.  I  am  considering  the  nations 
as  having  a  mind,  a  mind  of  a  complex  constitution  if  you 
wish,  but  to  which  more  or  less  the  same  laws  that  govern 
the  human  mind  can  be  applied.  We  often  hear  of  persons 
acting  under  the  influence  of  suggestions,  or  auto-suggestions, 
and  I  think  that  nations  often  act  under  such  influences, 
disobeying  many  times  the  dictates  of  justice.  A  prominent 
writer  on  psychology  has  said:  "The  subjective  mind  is 
constantly  controllable  and  controlled  by  suggestions  coming 
either  from  without  or  from  within."  This  statement 
applies  equally  as  well  to  nations.     It  is  the  influence  upon 

299 


300  DAVID    MONTT  ^ 

the  mind  of  the  Latin-American  nation  coming  from  without 
that  I  wish  to  review. 

In  the  first  place  let  me  recite  a  few  historical  facts  and 
make  known,  in  justice  to  the  United  States-,  what  this 
country  did  at  the  birth  of  our  republics  and  the  influence 
of  those  facts  upon  our  succeeding  life.  ^Vhen  Napoleon 
fell,  who  was,  as  somebody  said  "The  crowned  people," 
and  when  Russia,  Austria  and  Prussia  organized  the  Holy 
Alliance,  Spain  asked  for  its  support  in  order  to  subject  the 
insurgent  colonies  of  South  America.  The  United  States, 
with  the  backing  of  Minister  Channing  of  England,  exposed 
to  the  world  the  plans  of  that  backward  and  oppressing 
alliance  and  recognized  the  independence  of  the  new  repub- 
lics, soon  after  the  proclamation  of  our  own  independence 
in  1818.  Once  reestablished  the  despotic  government  of 
Ferdinand  VII,  Spain  renewed  her  attempts  to  regain  control 
of  the  Latin-American  republics.  The  United  States  pro- 
claimed the  Monroe  Doctrine,  which  was  then  our  protecting 
shield  and  moral  support  against  the  ambitions  of  the  Euro- 
pean monarchies.  Since  that  time  the  Union  has  been 
sending  us  elements  of  defense,  elements  of  intellectuality 
and  of  material  development.  As  years  go  by,  we  find,  how- 
ever, that  the  beneficial  influence  that  the  United  States  had 
at  the  beginning  of  our  independent  life,  is  overshadowed  by 
the  moral  influence  of  the  continental  powers.  However,  we 
had  enough  impulse  given  to  us,  by  the  example  of  this  great 
Union,  to  enable  us  to  keep  alive  our  democratic  institutions, 
which  today  are  endangered  by  the  influence  of  the  European 
monarchies,  which  has  created  and  maintain  an  undesir- 
able aristocracy  in  the  heart  of  our  apparent  democratic 
institutions. 

It  would  be  hard  to  make  laws  dealing  with  the  moral 
influence  of  a  nation  upon  another  and  the  development  of 
trade  between  them.  Today,  we  could  not  say,  for  instance, 
whether  moral  influence  brings  trade,  or  whether  trade 
brings  moral  influence.  The  fact  is,  however,  that  during 
this  period  of  moral  influence  of  the  United  States  upon  Chile 
the  trade  relations  between  the  two  countries  were  most 
encouraging  and  satisfactory.     It  was  during  that  period 


MIND    OF   LATIN-AMERICAN   NATIONS  301 

that  American  enterprise  had  the  most  flourishing  start  in 
South  America.  During  that  period  Wheelwright,  an  Amer- 
ican, established  the  first  steamship  line  in  the  Pacific  connect- 
ing Chile  directly  with  this  country.  The  same  man  started 
the  exploitation  of  our  coal  mines  and  nailed  the  first  nails  of  the 
first  South  American  railroad,  between  Copiap6  and  Caldera. 
Meiggs,  an  American  civil  engineer,  soon  after  connected 
by  railroad  our  capital  city  and  our  main  port,  Valparaiso. 
Even  during  our  fight  for  freedom,  we  saw  American  spirit 
and  American  enterprise  coming  to  our  assistance.  As 
early  as  1811  ,\rnold  Heber  brought  to  Chile  the  first  printing 
press,  vrhich  we  keep,  today,  as  a  sacred  relic  in  our  national 
museum  in  Santiago.  I  can  rightly  say,  therefore,  that 
Americans  were  the  founders  of  the  national  press  in  Chile. 
A  few  years  later  we  find  another  American  who,  associated 
with  a  Chilean,  founded  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  important 
papers  published  in  liatin  America,  El  Mercurio. 

I  have  mentioned  the  fact  of  the  press  being  founded 
by  American  citizens  and  the  fact  that  this  press  was  there- 
fore highly  saturated  with  American  ideas  and  ideals, 
because  I  think  that  this  "Fourth  Power  of  the  State"  was 
then  largely  responsible  for  the  friendly  attitude  of  Chile 
towards  the  United  States  in  the  early  period  of  its  life. 
The  press  is  certainly  a  power  and  whether  directed  for  good 
or  evil  its  influence  upon  the  minds  of  the  people  cannot  be 
denied.  It  is  a  common  belief  that  yellow  journalism  in 
this  country  precipitated  the  Spanish  .American  war.  It  is 
also  a  conmion  statement  that  it  was  a  selfish  and  prejudicial 
idea  which  animated  the  yellow  presjs.  Recent  disclosures 
made  in  connection  with  the  proceedings  against  the  Krupp 
interests  in  Germany  have  revealed  to  the  world  that  this 
same  selfiaJi  motive  animated  the  larger  part  of  the  press  of 
both  Germany  and  France,  in  order  to  keep  alive  the  ill- 
feeling  and  differences  between  the  two  nations.  In  this 
case,  this  most  shameful  campaign  conducted  through  the 
columns  of  the  press  had  no  other  purpose  than  to  promote 
and  increase  the  jiurchavse  of  armaments  by  the  two  countries 
mentioned.  This  very  same  scheme  was  tried  and  carried 
nearly  to  successful  completion  between  two  South  Amer- 


302  DAVID   MONTT 

ican  republics.  It  is  not  long  ago  that  two  sister  nations, 
which  always  had  the  same  ideals,  the  same  abundance  of 
resources,  the  same  pursuits,  were  brought  to  the  verge  of  a 
war.  Again,  it  was  the  influence  of  European  armament 
manufacturers  which  impressed  the  minds  of  these  two 
nations  to  make  them  think  that  their  trivial  differences 
could  not  be  settled  without  resorting  to  arms.  It  took  the 
patriotism  and  courage  of  highly  spirited  citizens  of  both 
countries  to  bring  out  the  truth  and  wake  us  up  from  this 
dreadful  nightmare.  That  we  were  only  acting  under 
foreign  influence  is  proven  by  the  fact  that  we  settled  the 
affair  in  a  most  peaceful  manner  and  the  friendliness  of  the 
two  nations  was  strengthened  by  closer  ties.  As  a  final 
chapter  to  the  incident,  we  erected  on  the  peak  of  the 
Andes  a  monument  to  the  Great  Master,  as  an  expression 
of  thanks  to  providence  for  having  liberated  us  from  the 
very  undesirable  influence  of  these  European  gun  manu- 
facturers. The  differences  between  the  two  nations  were 
then  settled  forever  and  I  am  proud  to  say  today  that  no 
other  two  nations  in  the  world  are  cooperating,  and  will 
cooperate  in  the  future,  more  efficiently  towards  the  welfare 
of  mankind  than  Argentine  and  Chile. 

The  satisfactory  solution  of  the  problem  of  Argentine 
and  Chile  has  left  to  my  knowledge  five  international  ques- 
tions to  be  settled  in  South  ^Vmerica. 

Let  me  briefly  review  these  differences,  because  I  think 
that  their  statement  and  their  acknowledgment  will  be  a 
factor  in  their  solution.  Furthermore,  I  have  too  high  an 
estimation  of  the  good  sense  of  the  Latin-American  republics 
to  think  that  any  of  these  problems  will  ever  produce  an 
armed  conflict.  But  instead  the  promotion  of  commercial 
intercourse  between  these  nations  will  entirely  do  away  with 
these  differences  and  bring  permanent  and  satisfactory 
conditions.  Ex-President  Taft  very  well  expressed  it: 
"Trade  is  peace."  I  also  think  that  the  absolute  elimination 
of  the  ]\Ionroe  doctrine  will  very  much  tend  towards  the 
promotion  of  a  strong  union  among  the  South  American 
republics. 

As  I  have  stated  before,  this  doctrine  has  been  of  great 


MIND    OF   LATIN-AMERICAN   NATIONS  303 

value  to  the  Latin- American  nations,  because  at  a  time  they 
were  unable  to  defend  themselves  against  the  attacks  of 
foreign  powers.  This  inability  of  ours  to  resist  the  attacks 
of  foreign  nations  was  then  largely  due  to  our  lack  of  the 
spirit  of  cooperation,  a  fact  well  known  and  characteristic 
to  the  Latin  races.  A  fact  that  is  now  preventing,  in  South 
America,  the  organization  of  large  political  parties.  I  am 
pleased  to  say,  however,  that  we  are  getting  over  these 
drawbacks  and  that  our  admiration  for  the  wonderful 
progress  of  this  country  is  making  us  reahze  that  to  attain 
similar  progress  we  need  to  develop  the  spirit  of  cooperation. 

But  this  is  a  little  digres.sion. 

In  saying  that  the  absolute  elimination  of  the  Monroe 
Doctrine  will  help  very  much  towards  the  promotion  of  a 
strong  union  in  the  South  American  republics  I  meant  to 
say  that  by  leaving  Latin  America  absolutely  free  from  this 
now  only  apparent  protecting  shield  of  the  doctrine  ah'eady 
mentioned,  it  will  further  bring  out  the  need  of  a  Pan-Ameri- 
can Union.  Let  me  now  briefly  state  what  I  consider  the 
most  interesting  international  problems  in  South  America 
today.  As  I  have  said,  my  idea  is  that  their  impartial 
exposition  will  be  a  factor  in  their  solution.  As  I  am  a 
Chilean,  and  realizing  that  as  such  the  impartiahty  of  my 
utterances  would  be  doubted,  I. will  leave  out  the  statement 
of  the  differences  between  Peru,  Bolivia  and  Chile,  which, 
fortunately,  are  today  practically  settled  in  a  most  satisfac- 
tory and  dignified  manner. 

I  have  before  me  the  exposition  of  three  problems  with 
which  to  occupy  part  of  the  time  I  have  been  assigned  in 
this  morning's  se-ssion.  These  problems  are:  (1)  The  rela- 
tions between  /Vrgentine  and  Brazil;  (2)  the  problem  of 
Paraguay;  (3)  the  problem  of  Uruguay. 

The  Rel.\tions  Between  .Vrgentine  and  Brazil 

The  origin  of  the  differences  between  these  two  countries 
lies  in  the  ancient  rivalry  between  Portugal  and  Spain, 
during  the  time  of  South  American  conquest,  which  was 
then    evidenced    by    the    frequent    conflicts    between    the 


301  DAVID 

^MLDUtftls  and  the  Portuguese.  For  the  sake  of  infonnstioD. 
it  would  be  wdl  to  stat^  that  althougjii  Spain,  at  that  time. 
was  always  successful  in  her  wars  with  Portugal-  voy  often 
the  latter  nation  obtained  better  results  after  the  dififoences 
were  settled.  So  the  Pcxtuguese  di{^<HiiarT  was  pronounced 
and  it  is  claimed  that  the  Jesuits  wane  expelled  from  the 
Spanish  possessions  by  the  wwkings  of  this  diplomacy.  It 
is  obvious  that  this  rehgious  order  was  in  fact  the  advanced 
army  <rf  the  i^pani^  ci\*ilixati<Mi.  Therefore,  when  Braxil 
saw  the  li^t  of  its  indepoident  hfe  it  found  itself  the 
poaHBHSPr  of  an  immmise  amount  of  land.  Argoitine  received 
fran  i^Mun  smaller  territorial  ri^ts  but  with  them  also 
obtained  from  the  mother  country  the  hereditary  hatred  of 
the  ^laniards  for  the  Portugaese. 

Although,  in  fact,  the  actual  cause  of  the  trouble  lies  in 
the  deare  of  both  natioiis  to  emtrol  the  outlet  of  the  River 
Plate,  which  is  to  Argentine,  and  would  be  to  Brazil,  what 
the  Misissippi  River  is  to  this  country.  Many  South 
American  statesmen  dedare  that  this  issue  alone  is  endan- 
gering the  independence  oi  Uruguay.  But  the  fc»eign 
immigration  to  Argentine,  Uruguay  and  Brazil  and  the 
ecMmncm  soise  of  the  peoples  of  these  countries  are  extin- 
em*J*"*g  the  prejudices  of  the  past  and  creating,  as  I  said 
before,  a  strong  current  o(  international  trade,  all  of  which. 
togrther  with  equality  of  mihtary  and  naval  power,  both  of 
Argentine  and  Brazil,  are  fumi^iing  a  most  stable  guarantee 
of  peace,  and  a  most  solid  foundation  for  the  devdc^xnent 
of  a  pennanent  friendship  betwe^i  the  two  nations. 

The  Problem  of  Pabaguat 

Tliis  proUem  deals  ratho*  with  the  constant  internal 
unrest  <^  the  country,  due  to  forogn  influence.  This 
sitoation  had  its  csigin  in  the  war  of  the  Triple  Alliance, 
Paraguay  was  then  not  divided  among  the  victorious  nations, 
simply  because  Argentine  thought  it  to  be  a  good  poUcy  to 
keep  it  as  an  independoit  nation,  proclaiming  to  that  ^ect 
the  then  famous  and  well  known  doctrine  "that  victory  does 
not  entitle  to  territcHial  rights."     The  pressit  result  of  this 


MIND    OF    LATIN-AMERICAN    NATIONS  305 

Bettlement  of  the  war  is,  as  I  said,  the  internal  pohtical 
unrest  in  Paraguay,  as  well  as  in  Uruguay.  No  other  exam- 
ple could  be  given  in  the  history  of  the  world  of  a  more 
active  Influence  of  foreign  nations  in  the  internal  policies  of 
any  country.  It  has  l>een  a  known  fact  for  years,  that 
whenever  the  government  of  Paraguay  is  in  the  hands  of  a 
political  party  agreeable  to  Argentine,  Brazil  would  help  the 
opposing  party  morally  and  financially,  allow  it  to  organize 
its  forces  in  BrazUian  territory,  and  encourage  it  to  over- 
tlirow  the  existing  administration.  Reverse  the  circum- 
stances and  you  will  find  that  a  similar  pr(x*ess  goes  on  in 
Argentine  with  respect  to  Brazil.  But  to  my  knowledge 
these  things  have  ceased  to  happen.  The  South  American 
countries  are  growing  wiser  and  their  present  energies  are 
mainly  directed  to  the  wonderful  development  of  their 
inexhaustible  natural  resources.  This  is,  I  think,  our 
greatest  blessing,  for  nations  that  are  busy  and  intensely 
preoccupied  in  the  development  of  their  natural  resources 
will  never  think  of  diverting  their  energies  and  misusing 
their  strength  in  the  ungrateful  task  of  an  international 
war. 

The  attitude  of  the  United  States  towards  these  questions 
has  been,  in  the  past,  far  from  being  definite.  To  my 
knowledge  it  has  changed  with  the  changes  in  the  adminis- 
tration. Up  to  recent  years,  however,  the  general  policy  of 
the  government  in  Washington  has  been  to  treat  the  South 
American  nations  in  a  fashion  similar  to  tliat  employed  in 
dealing  with  the  countries  of  Central  America.  A  striking 
example  of  this  occurred  only  a  few  years  ago  in  a  proposition 
between  Chile  and  the  United  States,  better  known  as  the 
.Aisop  claim.  In  that  instance,  the  department  of  state 
sent  out  an  ultimatum  to  the  ministry  of  foreign  afTairs  of 
my  country  stating  that  the  American  representative  in 
Santiago  would  be  called  back  to  Washington  should  the 
question  not  be  settled  within  ten  days.  At  the  time  no 
intelligent  person  in  Chile  denied  the  justice  of  the  claim,  but 
the  method  of  procedure  was  the  thing  we  objected  to.  Such 
an  instance  as  this  is  liable  to  develop  an  ill-feeling  between 
North  and  South  America,  but  fortunately  for  us  this  parti- 


306  DAVID   MONTT 

cular  case  was  satisfactorily  settled  by  arbitration.  When 
these  questions  of  international  interest  come  up  in  South 
America,  the  eyes  of  the  world  will  always  turn  to  this 
country  to  see  what  it  will  do,  under  the  circumstances. 

As  previously  stated,  I  esteem  too  highly  the  intelligence 
and  common  sense  of  the  Latin-American  nations  to  think 
that  they  could  not  settle  their  differences  without  the  unwel- 
come interference  of  foreign  nations.  The  policy  of  the 
present  administration,  in  keeping  its  hands  off  ^Mexico,  is 
conomanding  the  admiration  and  respect  of  all  the  South 
American  continent.  Had  the  United  States  always  pro- 
ceeded in  the  same  tactful  manner,  that  it  is  now  using  with 
regard  to  the  Alexican  situation,  there  would  have  been  no 
foundation  for  the  ill-feehng,  which  to  a  degree,  is  still 
felt  in  South  America  towards  the  United  States. 

The  ehmination  of  misunderstanding  between  nations  is 
always  a  most  desirable  thing.  The  visits  to  South  America 
of  prominent  statesmen,  like  Hon.  Elihu  Root,  and  later  of 
Hon.  Wm.  J.  Bryan,  have  done  much  towards  the  ehmination 
of  misunderstandings  in  the  Pan-American  continent. 
Tours  of  inspection  and  study  of  the  Latin-American  condi- 
tions, like  the  recent  tour  of  the  Boston  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, are  also  most  important  factors  in  eUminating  preju- 
dice and  modifying  the  opinions  of  both  American  and  South 
American  people.  The  gathering  of  Pan-American  con- 
gresses are  also  doing  much  towards  bringing  the  nations 
of  the  western  world  into  closer  touch  and  last,  but  not 
least,  the  organization  of  conferences,  like  the  one  in  which 
I  have  the  honor  of  being  present,  prepare  the  ground  for 
the  thorough  understanding  by  the  Latin-American  nations 
of  the  ideals  and  purposes  of  the  people  of  the  United  States 
and  will  hasten  the  beginning  of  a  second  era  of  genuine 
American  influence  in  South  America. 


HIGHER  EDUCATION  IN  LATIN  AIMERICA 

By  Edgar  Eiving  Brandon,  Ph.D.,  Vice-President  of  Miami 

University 

Striking  contrasts  and  unexpected  similarities  between 
home  and  foreign  practices  form  the  basis  of  observation 
when  one  begins  to  investigate  foreign  institutions.  Con- 
sidering that  this  address  must  cover  a  wide  area  in  a  short 
time,  I  have  constructed  it  in  its  main  lines  upon  the  prin- 
ciple of  comparison,  feeling  that  whether  I  did  so  or  not, 
my  hearers  would  consciously  or  unconsciously  apply  this 
principle.  The  first  comparison  involves  the  definition  of 
"Higher  Education."  In  the  United  States,  as  the  term 
ia  applied,  it  is  commonly  considered  as  embracing  the  inde- 
pendent college  or  the  department  of  arts,  science  and  phi- 
losophy in  the  university,  the  graduate  school,  which  is  a 
continuation  of  the  college,  and  the  professional  schools  of 
law,  theology,  medicine,  pharmacy,  dentistry,  engineering, 
education,  agriculture,  and  in  later  years,  commerce.  All 
studies  in  these  professional  schools  have  been  designated 
as  higher  education  altliough  formerly  a  secondary  school 
diploma  was  not  uniformly  a  prerequisite  to  admission,  and 
unfortunately,  it  is  not  yet  everywhere  demanded. 

In  Latin  America,  higher  education  is  confined  ahnost 
exclusively  to  the  professional  schools  of  law,  medicine, 
j>harmacy,  dentistry,  engineering,  agriculture,  education  and 
commerce.  In  many  states,  however,  the  schools  of  agri- 
culture, education  and  commerce  are  not  there  classed  as 
I)arts  of  higher  education.  Only  two  or  three  countries  re- 
tain in  their  universities  the  department  of  letters  and  phi- 
losophy. Strictly  speaking,  there  is  no  graduate  school. 
Schools  of  art  and  nuisic  are  not  an  integral  part  of  the  uni- 
versity organization,  but  are  everyAvhere  subsidized  by  the 
government  and  enjoy  a  prestige  not  usually  accorded  to 
such  institutions  in  the  United  States.     Iliglier  education 

307 


308  EDGAR   EWING   BRANDON 

in  Latin  America  is,  therefore,  almost  wholly  professional 
education,  and  to  these  professional  colleges,  admission  is 
gained  directly  from  the  secondary  school  as  in  Continental 
Europe.  Full  secondary  education  is,  however,  absolutely 
required  for  admission  to  the  traditional  liberal  professions, 
and  also  to  those  of  more  recent  creation,  such  as  agricul- 
ture, commerce,  etc.,  when  these  form  part  of  the  university. 

Facilities 

A  Latin- American  university  is,  therefore,  only  a  group 
of  professional  schools.  Naturally  there  is  little  cohesion 
or  unity.  In  some  countries,  such  as  Brazil,  Bolivia  and 
Guatemala,  there  is  no  university  organization;  the  schools 
of  law,  medicine,  etc.,  are  separate  institutions,  dependent 
directly  upon  the  government  and  answerable  directly  to 
the  minister  of  public  instruction.  Moreover  in  the  coun- 
tries that  have  the  university  organization,  many  provincial 
universities  have  but  two  faculties — as  law  and  pharmacy. 
In  speaking  of  the  facilities  for  higher  education  in  Latin 
America,  it  will  be  more  practical,  therefore,  to  group  to- 
gether the  schools  of  a  single  profession  than  to  cite  the 
number  and  names  of  the  universities.  At  the  time  of  my 
investigations  in  1911-12,  there  were  approximately  sixty- 
eight  law  schools  in  Latin  America,  distributed  as  follows: 
one  each  in  Cuba,  Haiti,  Santo  Domingo,  Guatemala,  Sal- 
vador, Costa  Rica  and  Uruguay;  nineteen  in  Mexico;  four 
in  Columbia;  three  in  Venezuela;  four  in  Ecuador;  three  in 
Nicaragua;  four  in  Peru;  four  in  Bolivia;  four  in  Chile; 
four  in  Argentina;  ten  in  Brazil.  Of  medicine  there  were 
thirty-two,  distributed  as  follows:  one  each  in  Cuba,  Haiti, 
Santo  Domingo,  Guatemala,  Salvador,  Honduras,  Peru, 
Chile,  Paraguay  and  Uruguay;  two  each  in  Ecuador,  Bolivia, 
Argentine  and  Venezuela;  three  each  in  Columbia  and  Brazil; 
seven  in  Mexico.  Nearly  every  medical  college  contains 
also  the  departments  of  pharmacy  and  dentistry.  Of  en- 
gineering there  were  fifteen  colleges,  distributed  as  follows: 
one  each  in  Cuba,  Mexico,  Columbia,  Venezuela,  Ecuador, 
Peru  and  Uruguay;  two  in  Chile;  three  in  .Argentine;  four 


HIGHER   EDUCATION   IN   LATIN   AMERICA  309 

in  Brazil.  Of  agriculture  there  were  fourteen:  one  each  in 
Cuba,  Mexico,  Honduras,  Venezuela,  Peru,  Bolivia  and  Uru- 
guay; two  each  in  Chile,  Argentine  and  Brazil. 

Only  Cuba,  (^hile  and  Argentine  have  colleges  of  educa- 
tion, and  only  Argentine,  Bolivia  and  Mexico  have  colleges 
of  commerce.  I  distinguish  between  a  school  and  a  college 
as  applied  to  the  departments  of  education,  commerce  and 
agriculture,  etc.,  on  the  basis  of  entrance  requirements,  a 
"college"  demandmg  the  full  secondary  education  for  admis- 
sion, a  "school"  having  lower  requirements.  Practically  all 
coimtries  have  schools  of  commerce  and  agriculture  as  well 
as  normal  schools  and  some  are  admirable  of  their  type 
but  few  countries  offer  higher  education  in  commerce  and 
education. 

Theological  education  for  the  Roman  Catholic  church  is 
given  in  the  diocesan  seminaries  and  is  relatively  elementary. 
The  archbishop  may  maintain  a  gran  seminario  in  which 
the  studies  reach  higher  levels.  A  few  of  the  old  universities 
continue  the  traditional  faculty  of  theologj',  but  the  num- 
ber of  students  is  negUgible. 

The  college  of  liberal  arts  as  a  separate  institution  does 
not  exist  anywhere  in  Latin  America  (except  possibly  at 
Bogota  and  MacKenzie  College  at  Sao  Paulo  in  Brazil)  and 
only  the  universities  of  Peru,  Cuba  and  Argentine  retain 
the  departments  of  philosophy  and  letters. 

Equipment 

The  matter  of  eciuipment  in  the  institutions  of  Latin 
America  is  very  unequal  and  there  is  even  a  large  disparity 
in  the  equipment  of  the  different  colleges  of  the  same  univer- 
sity. In  the  mere  matter  of  buildings,  no  South  American 
University  has  suitable  and  adequate  buildings  through- 
out. As  most  of  the  institutions  are  of  comparatively  an- 
cient foundation,  they  have  inherited  the  colonial  quarters, 
which  were  copies  of  the  monastic  universities  of  mediaeval 
Europe,  while  the  institutions  of  more  recent  establishment 
have  been  compelled  often  through  poverty  to  content  them- 
selves with  hired  buildings.     Of  the  larg«T  and  more  cele- 


310  EDGAR   EWING   BRANDON 

brated  universities,  only  those  of  La  Plata  and  Uruguay 
have  all  their  departments  housed  in  edifices  that  post-date 
the  colonial  era.  Buenos  Aires  has  distinctly  modern  build- 
ings for  the  colleges  of  medicine  and  agriculture.  The  col- 
lege of  law  is  established  in  an  ancient  property  to  which 
have  been  added  in  time  newer  lecture  halls  and  a  library. 
The  college  of  letters  and  philosophy  occupies  a  building 
which  was  formerly  a  residence,  while  the  college  of  engi- 
neering occupies  a  block  of  buildings  erected  at  different 
epochs  and  for  different  purposes,  one  of  the  chemical  labo- 
ratories being  installed  in  the  chapel  of  a  colonial  convent. 
As  regards  buildings,  the  University  of  Chile  may  be  taken 
as  typical  of  the  varied  material  equipment  of  a  good  Latin- 
American  university.  The  medical  college  has  a  building 
erected  especially  for  it  some  forty  years  ago.  It  is  dig- 
nified in  appearance  and  relatively  adequate.  The  dental 
college  (which  however  in  Chile  is  not  a  part  of  the  univer- 
sity organization),  has  a  thoroughly  modern  structure.  The 
engineering  college  occupies  a  good  building  some  fifty  years 
old.  It  was  constructed  to  accommodate  the  whole  uni- 
versity of  that  day.  It  is  consequently  not  well  adapted 
to  its  present  uses.  The  law  college  has  to  content  itself 
with  a  hired  building  which  was  once  a  residence.  The 
same  is  true  of  the  college  of  architecture. 

In  nearly  all  countries  the  medical  schools  are  the  most 
favored  in  the  matter  of  buildings.  Even  in  the  smaller 
countries,  this  department  has  been  given  relatively  modem 
buildings  and  good  facilities  for  the  prosecution  of  its  work. 
Next  in  order  of  commodious  quarters  comes  the  engineering 
college.  Its  work,  so  largely  laboratory  in  character,  has 
incited  the  erection  of  suitable  buildings.  The  agricultural 
colleges,  being  very  recent  and  demanding  larger  grounds 
for  experimental  work,  have  drifted  to  the  suburbs  away 
from  the  crowded  conditions  of  the  older  departments.  The 
colleges  of  law  and  of  letters  have  been  and  are  still  the 
least  favored. 

The  libraries  are  not  as  extensive  or  as  rich  as  the  great 
age  of  many  universities  would  lead  one  to  expect.  This 
is  explained  in  part  by  the  fact  that  in  the  colonial  period 


HIGHER   EDUCATION    IN   LATIN  AMERICA  .SI  1 

the  institutions  were  strictly  ecclesiastical  and  their  work 
was  almost  exclusively  theological,  or  preparatory  to  theo- 
logical studies.  The  university  library  of  that  time  com- 
prised, therefore,  only  classical  and  theological  works.  An- 
other explanation  is  the  fact  that  the  chief  universities  are 
located  at  the  national  capitals  and  every  country  has  its 
national  library,  which  has  often  been  developed  at  the 
expense  of  the  university  library. 

The  striking  feature  of  the  university  libraries  is  the  large 
number  of  works  in  languages  other  than  the  national  lan- 
guage. It  is  true  that  Spain  has  not  nearly  kept  pace  with 
her  European  neighbors  in  scientific  studies  and  scientific 
production.  The  Spanish-American  countries  have  not  yet 
produced  many  original  scientific  works  themselves,  and 
have,  therefore,  been  forced  to  have  recourse  to  foreign 
literatures  for  the  materials  of  advanced  study.  This  is 
unfortunate,  as  it  unconsciously  gives  a  tinge  of  deprecia- 
tion to  the  national  idiom  as  a  vehicle  of  learning.  French 
scientific  books  form  the  great  majority  of  the  library  col- 
lections and  are  also  much  used  as  regular  texts.  This 
arises  from  the  historic  prestige  of  the  French  language  and 
the  ease  with  it  is  acquired  by  other  Latin  peoples.  Of 
the  works  consulted  by  students  and  professors  in  the  library 
of  the  medical  college  of  Montevideo  in  a  recent  year,  154 
were  in  German,  231  in  Portuguese,  239  in  English,  1243  in 
Italian,  2793  in  Spanish  and  5S16  in  French. 

Laboratory  equipment  is  fairly  adequate  to  the  demands 
made  upon  it.  LTnfortunately,  from  a  North  American  view- 
point, the  Latin-American  practice  fails  to  make  the  fullest 
use  of  the  laboratory.  As  a  rule,  it  is  used  simply  for 
demonstrations  by  the  instructor  in  the  presence  of  the  class 
and  not  for  frequent  individual  experiment  by  each  and 
every  student.  Hence  one  of  the  greatest  advantages  of 
laboratory  studies  is  lessened.  Particularly  is  this  true  in 
engineering  and  agricultural  schools.  In  medical  schools, 
more  individual  use  is  made  of  the  e(}uipment.  Many  Latin- 
American  educators  admit  the  inade(|uacy  of  the  mere  dem- 
onstration method  in  laboratory,  and  the  best  universities 


312  EDGAR  EWING  BRANDON 

are  changing  their  practice  in  this  respect;  but  the  advance 
in  engineering  schools  is  greatlj'  hampered  by  tradition. 

The  lack  of  better  buildings  must  not  be  attributed  to 
indifierence  to  higher  education.  The  Latin-American  takes 
an  exceptional  pride  in  handsome  public  buildings  and  in 
the  material  aspect  of  the  universities.  In  some  countries, 
the  rapid  growth  of  the  population  has  so  increased  the  uni- 
versity enrollment  that  the  public  revenues  have  been  in- 
adequate to  the  demands  made  upon  them.  Buenos  Aires 
has  as  many  thousands  in  her  university  today  as  she  had 
hundreds  thirty  years  ago. 

In  states  where  immigration  has  not  been  marked,  the 
reorganization  of  higher  education  in  the  past  two  decades 
in  order  to  adapt  it  to  the  new  scientific  era  has  exhausted 
the  available  resources. 

There  is  scarcely  a  country,  large  or  small,  rich  or  poor, 
that  has  not  built  and  equipped  its  institutions  of  higher 
learning  as  well  and  as  fast  as  it  could  well  afford.  Some 
have  been  even  too  lavish  here  in  proportion  to  the  expen- 
<iitures  for  elementary  and  secondary  education. 

Organization 

Latin-American  universities  are  more  closely  related  to 
and  more  dependent  upon  the  pohtical  powers  of  the  coun- 
try than  is  the  case  with  North  American  state  universities. 
They  are,  however,  in  name  almost  universaUy  autonomous, 
i.e.,  the  professors  constitute  a  corporation  that  is  self -per- 
petuating. Vacant  professorships  are  filled  by  the  faculty 
itself.  The  control  of  the  state  resides  in  the  fact  that  the 
chief  executive,  through  the  minister  of  public  instruction, 
has  the  veto  power  over  every  election,  and  the  further  fact 
that  the  institution  is  directly  dependent  upon  the  state  for 
its  revenues.  Few  have  endowments  of  any  considerable 
value,  and  no  fixed  percentage  of  the  state  revenues  are 
allotted  by  statute  or  constitutional  provision  to  the  uni- 
versity as  is  the  case  in  many  of  our  states.  The  veto  power 
is,  however,  seldom  exercised  m  a  way  to  infringe  upon  the 
liberty  of  teaching,  or  in  the  sense  of  political  spoils.     In  a 


HIGHER    EDUCATION    IN    LATIN   AMERICA  313 

few  states,  where  autocratic  methods  have  been  in  vogue 
in  politics,  the  same  principle  extends  to  the  universities, 
but  these  states  are  exceptions.  The  institutions  of  higher 
learning  in  Latin  America,  whether  universities  or  detached 
departments  of  professional  schools,  are  all  state  institutions. 
They  may  have  had  their  beginnings  far  back  in  colonial 
times  and  been  originally  chartered  by  the  church,  but  they 
have  been  completely  secularized  and  now  owe  allegiance  to 
the  state  only.  Further,  they  are  more  than  mere  academic 
bodies.  They  not  only  train  for  the  professions,  but  their 
degrees  virtually  confer  the  sanction  to  exercise  the  pro- 
fessions. They  are  the  state's  agents  for  the  administration 
of  the  so-called  learned  professions. 

It  is  true  that  the  Roman  CathoUc  Church  in  Chile  and 
also  in  Argentine  maintains  a  Cathohc  university  compris- 
ing certain  faculties,  but  these  universities  have  no  power 
to  grant  professional  licenses.  In  this  sense,  the  state  in 
Latin  America  maintains  a  monopoly  of  higher,  or  at  least 
of  professional  education. 

There  is  still  another  bond  that  links  the  Latin-American 
university  with  the  state  that  Ls  foreign  to  North  American 
customs.  Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  a  teacher  by  pro- 
fession and  but  recently  a  college  president  sits  in  the  \Miite 
House  at  Washington,  it  is  nevertheless  true  that  academic 
life  in  the  Ignited  States  has  run  in  quite  different  channels 
from  the  political  life.  Not  so  in  Latin  America.  There 
statecraft  and  the  professorate  have  been  closely  allied.  A 
man  of  talent  easily  passes  from  the  professor's  chair  to  politi- 
cal administration  and  as  easily  returns.  The  Latin-Amer- 
ican professor  is  seldom  devoted  to  research  as  a  vocation. 
It  may  be  an  avocation.  (I  have  already  noted  that  there 
arc  no  graduate  schools  strictly  speaking.)  His  teaching  is 
practical  in  that  it  aims  simply  to  prepare  for  a  profession. 
Moreover,  the  profe.SvSor  does  not  limit  his  activities  to  the 
university.  lie  practices  a  profession  at  the  same  time.  In 
fact  his  teaching  is  secondary.  He  is  first  of  all  lawyer, 
physician,  engineer,  journalist  or  agriculturist.  His  lectures 
of  three  or  sLx  hours  per  week  are  a  by-product  of  his  activ- 
ities.    .As  an  educated,  cultivated  citizen,  he  is  therefore 


314  EDGAR   EWING   BRANDON 

easily  available  for  a  political  position.  It  would  not  appear 
incongruous  to  us  that  professors  in  the  law  school  should 
easily  gain  political  preferment ;  but  that  professors  of  medi- 
cine, engineering,  pharmacy  and  other  technical  subjects 
should  be  directly  in  line  for  political  positions  is  to  the 
North  American  an  anomaly.  To  understand  the  situation 
it  must  be  remembered  that  in  Latin  American  the  profes- 
sions are  filled  almost  exclusively  by  the  aristocracy,  and 
it  is  by  virtue  of  this  fact  that  physicians,  engineers,  and 
others,  who  are  at  the  same  time  professors  are  called  to 
political  life.  It  is  not  so  much  that  the  university  con- 
tributes to  the  political  life  of  the  country  as  that  the  per- 
sonnel of  the  university  is  recruited  from  the  same  class  that 
directs  the  state.  The  interchange  of  functions  is  therefore 
most  natural  and  facile.  With  us,  it  has  often  been  a  cause 
for  regret  that  our  higher  education  has  few  points  in  com- 
mon with  our  political  activities.  Our  tradition  is  not 
wholly  an  evil;  our  policies  suffer  somewhat  probably,  but 
there  are  compensations. 

The  internal  organization  resembles  that  of  a  European 
university.  There  is  a  dean  of  each  college  chosen  annually 
by  the  professors.  He  is  seldom  reelected,  as  it  is  the  cus- 
tom to  rotate  the  office.  He  is  assisted  by  a  small  council 
also  chosen  by  the  professors.  The  head  of  the  entire  uni- 
versity, the  rector,  is  elected  by  the  professorship.  He,  like 
the  deans,  seldom  serves  for  a  long  time.  There  is  also  a 
university  council  composed  of  representatives  from  all  the 
faculties.  The  council  has  legislative  powers  for  the  entire 
institution,  and  it  arranges  the  budget  for  the  university, 
distributing  the  funds  among  the  various  colleges. 

Notwithstanding  the  existence  of  the  university  council 
and  the  rector,  who  represent  the  entire  institution,  a  Latin- 
American  university  is  a  far  less  unified  body  than  a  North 
American  state  university.  Each  department  is  inclined  to 
lead  its  own  life  apart.  The  council  is  not  as  unifying  an 
agency  as  a  board  of  trustees,  and  the  rector  who  holds 
office  for  but  a  year  perhaps  and  then  returns  to  his  pro- 
fessional chair  is  not  the  important  centralizing  figure  that 
the  North  American  university  president  is.     He  has  neither 


HIGHER   EDUCATION    IN    L.A.TIN    AMERICA  315 

the  prominence  nor  the  authority.  The  different  colleges 
may  be  located  in  widely  separated  districts  of  the  city. 
The  university  organization  is,  therefore,  often  only  nomi- 
nal. Hence,  the  practice  of  omitting  it  entirely  and  con- 
ducting the  departments  as  separate  institutions  under  the 
minister  of  public  institutions,  as  in  Brazil,  Bolivia  and 
Guatemala. 

Teachers  and  Teaching 

Tlie  fact  that  the  Latin-American  professor  is  rarely  a 
teacher  by  profession  has  far-reaching  effects  on  the  char- 
acter of  the  teaching  body  and  still  greater  on  the  character 
and  scope  of  the  teaching.  In  the  first  place,  it  fills  the 
professional  chairs  with  men  of  the  highest  class  of  society. 
They  may  not  be  erudite,  but  they  are  the  most  cultured  of 
the  nation.  They  give  the  university  a  dignity  that  could 
not,  in  countries  where  rank  in  society  counts  for  so  much, 
be  imparted  by  mere  erudition.  Since  the  great  majority 
of  the  students  are  of  the  same  social  class  and  since  the 
teaching  lacks  the  technical  and  burdensome  detail  that  a 
scholar  might  introduce,  there  exists  a  community  of  spirit 
between  students  and  professors  not  so  common  with  us, 
and  this  tends  to  create  a  corporate  sentiment,  such  as 
existed  in  the  mediaeval  universities. 

As  the  professor  has  active  vocations,  which  he  considers 
more  vital  than  his  lectures,  he  cannot  be  held  to  regular 
attendance.  A  professor  who  gives  four-fifths  of  his  lec- 
tures is  considered  a  model  of  regularity.  Not  infrequently 
he  is  absent  one-half  the  time,  and  the  annual  report  of  the 
institutions  will  include  a  table  of  professors'  attendance. 
To  remedy  the  matter,  each  chair  is  provided  with  a  sub- 
stitute professor,  who  may  be  called  by  the  administration 
to  fill  the  place  of  the  absentee,  in  the  event  his  absence  is 
foreseen  and  reported. 

The  curriculum  is  divided  into  a  great  number  of  courses 
and  each  course  has  its  professor.  He  usually  gives  three 
lectures  a  week.  If  the  course  includes  laboratory  work, 
this  exercise  is  conducted  by  a  laboratory  assistant,  who  has 
neither  the  rank  nor  dignity  of  a  professor.     This  ^harp 


316  EDGAR   EWING   BRANDON 

dLstinction  between  lecture  and  laboratory  reacts  unfavor- 
ably on  the  latter.  Since  the  professor  does  not  give  it  his 
personal  supervision,  the  student  is  tempted  to  regard  the 
laboratory  as  of  lesser  importance.  Especially  is  this  true 
in  engineering,  where  the  laboratory  exercises  approach  the 
conditions  of  common  manual  labor.  The  class  distinctions 
which  are  so  sharp  in  most  South  American  countries  almost 
debar  an  engineering  student  from  certain  laboratory  exer- 
cises that  form  the  veritable  basis  of  his  profession. 

The  teaching  consists  almost  uniformly  of  formal  lectures; 
class  discussions  are  rare,  and  questions  and  answers  on  an 
assigned  topic  still  more  so.  However,  the  Latin-American 
student  is  not  averse  to  these  latter  methods.  The  livest 
class  I  witnessed  was  conducted  by  the  class  discussion 
method  on  an  assigned  topic. 

The  common  lecture  method  of  teaching  necessarily  throws 
great  emphasis  upon  the  final  examination.  Attendance  on 
the  part  of  the  students  upon  lectures  and  even  upon  labo- 
ratory exercises  is  nowhere  strictly  enforced.  There  are  sel- 
dom written  or  oral  examinations  during  the  year. 

The  great  emphasis  is  laid  upon  the  year-end  examina- 
tions. During  the  last  month,  lectures  are  relaxed,  if  not 
discontinued  altogether.  Sometimes  this  is  by  tradition  and 
is  at  the  option  of  the  professor;  sometimes  it  is  by  formal 
university  statute.  This  month  is  allotted  to  the  student 
in  order  that  he  may  prepare  for  his  final  year-end  examina- 
tion. Each  student  is  examined  mdividually  and  orally  in 
each  subject.  There  may  be  also  a  WTitten  examination, 
but  it  is  the  oral  test  that  is  the  great  event.  It  takes  place 
before  a  jury  of  three  professors.  The  student  draws  by 
lot  a  certain  number  of  topics  which  he  develops,  and  in 
addition  he  may  be  asked  questions  by  any  member  of  the 
jury.  The  jury  ballots  secretly  on  the  grade  to  be  assigned. 
If  the  candidate  passes,  he  is  promoted  to  the  next  class. 
If  he  is  conditioned,  he  may  apply  for  another  examination 
before  the  opening  of  the  next  session.  If  he  fails,  he  must 
remain  in  the  same  class  another  year  and  the  period  of 
his  graduation  is  thus  deferred  a  year. 

The  organization  of  a  Latin-American  university  as  out- 


HIGHER   EDUCATION   IN    LATIN   AMERICA  317 

lined  above  necessarily  produces  certain  conditions,  which 
are  striking  to  a  North  American. 

The  assignment  of  but  a  single  course  to  a  professor  re- 
quiies  a  relatively  large  faculty.  An  institution  of  less  than 
three  hundred  students  may  have  as  many  as  forty  pro- 
fessors, not  including  the  substitutes  and  the  laboratory 
assistants.  The  pay  roll,  therefore,  will  be  a  long  one,  but 
the  total  expenditures  will  not  be  greater  than  in  the  United 
States.  In  proportion  to  the  time  he  devotes  to  teaching, 
the  Latin-American  professor  i^  paid  about  the  average 
salary  of  the  North  American  professor.  The  stipend  varies 
greatly  however  in  different  countries. 

Since  the  student  enters  the  professional  school  directly 
from  the  secondary  school,  the  length  of  the  professional 
course  is  long  as  compared  with  our  practice.  In  medicine, 
six  and  seven  years;  in  law  five  or  six  years;  in  engineering, 
four,  five  and  six  years.  The  last  years  in  the  medical 
college  are  devoted  almost  wholly  to  clinical  study  and  prac- 
tice and,  therefore,  take  the  place  of  the  post-graduation 
interneship.  The  law  course  is  much  broader  and  more  com- 
prehensive than  the  average  course  in  the  United  States, 
including  as  it  does,  political  science,  history  and  philosophy 
of  law  and  international  law. 

On  account  of  the  close  relation  existing  between  the  pro- 
fessorate and  the  political  administration,  and  also  on  ac- 
count of  the  students  coming  from  families  that  compose 
the  governing  class,  the  university  is  a  strong  center  of 
pohtical  influence.  In  the  olden  time  when  commercial  in- 
fluence counted  for  little  and  even  today  in  these  countries 
least  affected  by  economic  ideas,  the  university  is  the  most 
potent  force  in  politics. 

Product 

The  almost  total  disappearance  from  the  university  of  the 
college  of  letters  and  philosophy  should  not  lead  to  the 
conclusion  that  all  Latin-American  graduates  are  devoting 
themselves  only  to  the  professions.  In  Latin  America  a 
professional  course,  especially  in  law,  is  a  traditional  liberal 


318 


EDGAR  EWING   BRANDON 


education.  Not  more  than  one-half  of  the  graduates,  even 
of  the  medical  schools,  enter  upon  the  practice  of  the  pro- 
fession. The  sons  of  landed  proprietors  return  to  the  ad- 
ministration of  their  estates;  others  turn  their  attention  to 
journalism,  governmental  administration,  etc. 

Neither  should  it  be  concluded  that  because  higher  edu- 
cation is  compressed  into  professional  schools,  that  the  lib- 
eral culture  is  lacking.  The  secondary  school  curriculum 
embraces  the  elements  of  subjects  not  usually  attempted  in 
the  United  States  in  schools  of  this  grade — economics  and 
philosophy  are  almost  everywhere  taught  in  the  last  year 
of  the  Latin-American  high  school.  It  is  true  that  the  clas- 
sics rarely  have  a  place,  but  on  the  other  hand,  modern  for- 
eign languages,  always  two  and  sometimes  three,  are  taught 
throughout  the  entire  course.  In  the  professional  schools, 
too,  many  subjects  are  included  that  with  us  are  found  only 
in  the  pre-professional  college  course.  In  law,  psychology, 
history,  economics,  finance  and  sociology;  in  medicine,  gen- 
eral courses  in  botany,  zoology,  physics,  etc.;  in  engineering, 
general  courses  in  the  physical  sciences.  Besides,  the  whole 
trend  of  the  professional  courses  is  toward  a  broader  educa- 
tion than  would  be  a  professional  course  with  us,  were  it 
not  preceded  by  the  college.  Especially  is  this  so  in  law. 
The  stress  universally  laid  upon  Roman  law  and  the  customs 
that  were  the  base  of  it  compensates  for  the  omission  of 
classical  studies,  while  the  importance  ascribed  to  the  his- 
tory and  philosophy  of  law  and  to  international  law  gives 
a  breadth  of  view  not  usually  obtained  in  our  relatively 
narrow  law  curriculum.  The  fact  that  Latin  America  has 
produced  more  than  her  share  of  eminent  international  law- 
yers is  a  direct  effect  of  the  type  of  legal  training  in  vogue. 
Indeed  the  law  school  is  the  college  of  liberal  arts  in  Latin 
America.  Its  curriculum  has  supplanted  in  large  part  the 
department  of  philosophy  and  its  students  are  there  quite 
as  much  for  liberal  culture  as  for  professional  training. 

Latin-American  universities  look  abroad  for  post-graduate 
study;  to  Europe  principally  for  law,  medicine  and  general 
culture;  to  the  United  States  principally  for  engineering  and 
dentistry.     In  agriculture  the  honors  are  more  equally  di- 


HIGHER  EDUCATION   IN   LATIN   AMERICA  319 

vided.  Almost  every  country  maintains  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  fellowships  for  foreign  study,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
large  number  of  young  men  who  go  abroad  for  study  on 
their  own  account. 

This  dependence  upon  foreign  countries  for  advanced  stu- 
dies and  also  for  ideals  in  art,  science,  literature  and  social 
progress  has  its  disadvantages  for  Latin  America.  Native 
ideas  are  often  mistrusted  and  as  a  consequence  initiative 
in  the  higher  things  of  life  is  discouraged.  Strong  charac- 
ters, who  would  work  reforms  social  and  economic,  are 
looked  upon  as  dreamers;  the  weaker  men  become  pessi- 
mistic in  the  face  of  the  greater  local  difficulties.  A  recent 
work  of  South  American  fiction  portrays  such  a  returned 
scholar  who  finds  conditions  at  home  so  difficult  as  com- 
pared with  what  he  has  seen  abroad,  that  he  loses  his  patriot- 
ism and  declines  to  help  the  fatherland  whose  pensioner  he 
has  been  for  years.  I  am  certain  that  such  a  person  is  not 
an  empty  imagination  of  the  author.  The  situation  is  a 
perplexing  one.  Latin  America  needs  graduate  study  for 
its  leaders  in  science,  but  the  traveling  fellow  often  loses  on 
one  side  as  much  as  he  gains  on  the  other.  Sympathy  with 
his  own  people  and  with  home  conditions  is  as  necessary  for 
the  public  man  as  knowledge  of  the  sciences  themselves. 

Real  graduate  study  cannot  progress  in  Latin  America 
until  university  teaching  becomes  a  distinct  profession.  The 
teacher  who  gives  three  hours  per  week  of  his  time  to  the 
class  and  the  rest  to  non-academic  pursuits  may  be  a  good 
teacher  for  a  professional  school,  but  he  can  never  become 
the  scholar  that  the  graduate  school  demands.  The  best 
prospect  for  the  development  of  this  grade  of  instruction  (at 
least  in  some  lines)  Is  at  the  University  of  La  Plata.  This 
institution  is  of  very  recent  foundation  and  takes  pride  in 
being  difTercnt  from  its  neighbors.  It  has  tried  to  break 
away  from  the  professional  tradition  and  to  stimulate  re- 
search and  an  academic  atmosphere. 

Aside  from  this  institution,  however,  the  tendency  in 
Latin-American  universities  today  is  to  accentuate  the  pro- 
fessional and  the  practical.  In  the  University  of  Buenos 
Aires,  the  largest  in  Latin  America,  the  department  of  phi- 


320  EDGAR  EWING   BRANDON 

losophy  and  letters  is  the  only  department  that  is  not  grow- 
ing. Elsewhere  it  either  does  not  exist  or  is  stagnant.  The 
emphasis  is  all  laid  on  professional  schools,  particularly  on 
the  colleges  of  engineering  and  agriculture.  However  the 
enrollment  is  not  the  largest  here.  Young  men  still  enroll 
in  excessive  numbers  for  the  professions  of  law  and  medi- 
cine, although  the  authorities,  both  university  and  political, 
are  urging  students  toward  the  more  commercial  vocations 
of  engineering  and  agriculture.  These  schools  receive  large 
appropriations  and  are  fostered  in  every  conceivable  way. 
It  is  not  easy,  however,  to  thwart  a  tradition.  The  so-called 
learned  professions  still  receive  the  larger  quota  of  the  uni- 
versity population.  It  is  only  where  commercial  life  has 
become  intense  that  the  predilection  for  the  time-honored 
law  course  has  begun  to  lessen. 


THE   UNIVERSITIES  AND   AMERICAN    INTERNA- 
TIONAL RELATIONS 

By  George  W.  Nasmyth,  Ph.D.,  President  of  the  Eighth  Inter- 
national Congress  of  Students.  Director  of  the 
Internatiojial  Bureau  of  Students 

In  the  permanent  work  for  the  real  object  of  the  Clark 
University  Conference  on  Latin  America,  to  promote  closer 
relations,  mutual  understanding  and  friendship  between  the 
United  States  and  Latin  .America,  the  Universities  of  Pan- 
America  have  a  position  of  great  importance.  We  have 
seen  the  importance  of  the  universities  as  a  part  of  American 
foreign  policy  in  the  awakening  of  China — the  beginnings 
of  the  Chinese  Republic  can  be  traced  in  large  part  to  the 
influence  of  Chinese  students  returning  from  their  study  in 
American  universities.  We  are  just  commencing  to  realize 
the  influence  which  the  German  universities  have  had  in 
the  shaping  of  American  education,  and  to  make  conscious 
use  of  the  exchange  of  professors  and  students  to  establish 
closer  German-American  relations.  But  the  opportunities 
for  the  universities  in  improving  American  international  rela- 
tions is  greater  still  on  account  of  the  dominant  position  of 
the  Universities  of  Latin  America  in  shaping  public  opinion. 
If  the  students  of  the  United  States  and  Latin  America  can 
be  brought  into  closer  contact,  we  shall  not  have  the  next 
generation  of  Latin  America  interpreting  the  utterances  of 
our  Jingoistic  press  as  the  true  expression  of  our  public 
opinion,  and  we  shall  not  have  the  widespread  ignorance 
in  the  United  States  of  Latin-American  civilization  and  of 
the  achievements  of  many  of  the  Latin-American  countries 
in  nil  departments  of  human  life. 

Definite  steps  have  been  taken  to  enlist  the  universities 
more  completely  in  the  continuance  of  the  work  of  the 
conference.      It  is  encouraging  to  review   the  beginnings 

321 


322  GEORGE   W.    NASMYTH 

which  have  ah'eady  been  made.  The  increasing  importance 
attached  to  the  study  of  the  Spanish  language  in  the  uni- 
versities of  the  United  States  and  its  almost  universal  recog- 
nition in  the  entrance  requirements  in  recent  years  has  been 
a  factor  of  far-reaching  influence.  This  has  been  followed 
by  the  establishment  of  professorships  in  Latin-.Ajnerican 
history  and  civilization  in  a  constantly  increasing  number  of 
universities.  The  courses  offered  last  year  in  the  follow- 
ing universities  may  be  cited  as  examples  of  this  important 
tendency : 

Columbia  University,  Prof.  William  R.  Shepherd,  course  on 
"Latin  America." 

('lark  University,  Prof.  George  H.  Blakeslee,  "Latin  America.'' 

Dickenson  College,  Carlisle,  Pennsjdvama,  Prof.  Leon  C.  Prince, 
"Spanish  America." 

University  of  Illinois,  Prof.  William  S.  Robertson,  "History  of 
Latin  America." 

Universit}^  of  Nebraska,  Prof.  Clark  E.  Persinger,  "Spanish 
America." 

University  of  Nebraska,  Prof.  Guernsey  Jones,  "Asiatic  and 
South  American  Histor5^" 

University  of  Pennsylvania,  Prof.  Leo  S.  Rowe,  "Latin  America." 
-*  University  of  ^S«aiiLectL  California,  Prof.  David  P.  Barrows, 
"South  America." 

University  of  Wisconsin,  the  work  of  Prof.  Paul  S.  Reinsch 
in  "  Latin-American  Political  Institutions"  is  being  given  by  Prof. 
B.  S.  Moore  and  Prof.  Stanley  K.  Hornbeck. 

Yale  University,  Prof.  Hiram  Bingham,  "  Latin- American 
History." 

Another  factor  of  increasing  importance  has  been  the  com- 
ing of  students  from  the  Latin-American  countries  to  the 
Universities  of  the  United  States.  The  tide  has  been  turn- 
ing from  Europe  to  North  America  in  recent  years  so  that 
at  the  present  time  the  United  States  has  more  than  four 
times  as  many  as  France.  The  total  number  of  students 
from  Latin  America  in  the  year  1912-13  studying  in  Ameri- 
can colleges  was  436. 

The  geographical  distribution  of  the  Latin-American  stu- 
dents in  thirty-four  universities,  colleges  and  technical  insti- 
tutions was  as  follows: 


UNIVEliSITIES   AND    INTERNATIONAL  RELATIONS 


323 


California 

Chicago 

Columbia 

Cornell 

Harvard 

Illinois 

Indiana 

Iowa 

Johns  Hopkins 

Kansas 

Michigan 

Minnesota 

Missouri 

Nebraska 

Northwestern 

Oberlin 

Ohio  State 

Pennsylvania 

Pennsylvania  State. 

Princeton 

Stanford 

Syracuse 

Texas 

Virginia 

Washington 

Vale 

I-iohigh 

M.  I.T 

Purdue 

Wcaleyan 


5 

16 

2 

2 


1 
4 
3 

2 

2 
5 


3 
8 
4 
2 


1 


10  14 
1 


lOj    1 


10 


2 

5J  2 

6  4 

1  2 


o 

& 
o 

a. 


6 
2 

10 

1 
1 

181 


2 
3 
5 
4 


2 
1 
3 
16 
17 
1 


1 
11 


10 
3    2 


2 
11 


18 


8 


•< 

D 

o  I 

« 

a. 


4,' 


2 
2 


■4 
u 

K 

H 

a 
■< 

^  L»    ^ 


3 

29 
2 

7 


4 
u 

5 

s 

'4 
.Z 

i: 

■* 
■J 


1     3 


20 
4 

22 

88 
8 

21 
0 
1 
1 
1 

35 
3 
9 
0 

13 
7 

12 
40|  81 
3  20 
1 
1 

27 

10 
2 
0 
5 

13 

24 
5 
2 


Total 


88  63 


90 


33 


34 


53 


12 


8 


14 


3137436 


The  largest  number  of  T.atin-American  students  is  claimed 
by  Cornell  University,  with  88,  then  comes  Pennsylvania, 
with  81,  and  then  at  a  long  distance,  ^lichigan  with  3.5, 
Syracuse  27,  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology  24, 
Columbia  22,  Illinois  21,  California  and  Pennsylvania  State 
20  each,  etc.,  making  a  total  of  430  Latin-American  students 
in  these  30  institutions.  The  total  number  of  Latin-Amer- 
ican students  in  all  the  French  universities  was  100  in  1910, 
120  in  1911,  128  in  1912  and  123  in  1913. 


324 


GEORGE   W.    NASMY^rH 


In  the  order  of  countries,  Porto  Rico  sends  the  largest 
number  of  students  90  (as  compared  with  107  in  1910-11); 
Cuba  is  second  with  88  (62  in  1910-11).  Mexico  comes 
third  with  81  (94).  Brazil  has  shown  the  largest  increase 
in  recent  years  and  has  now  54  (as  compared  with  16  in 
1910-11).  Argentine  sends  32  (an  increase  of  2  over  1910- 
11).  The  Central  American  Contingent  of  31  (34)  is  about 
equally  divided  between  Guatemala,  Panama,  San  Salvador, 
Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica.  Peru  sends  13  (12);  Columbia 
11  (4);  Ecuador  9  (5);  Chih  7  (10);  Paraguay  6  (9)  and 
Uruguay  5  (1).  The  total  for  South  America  last  year  was 
137,  an  increase  of  1  over  1910-11.  The  increases  in  the 
individual  countries  were  due  in  some  cases  to  prosperity, 
as  in  Brazil,  and  in  some  cases  to  the  direct  action  of  the 
governments  in  awarding  scholarships  and  encouraging  for- 
eign study  in  other  ways. 

In  many  of  the  institutions  where  the  numbers  are  large 
the  students  have  Spanish-American  or  Latin-American 
Clubs.  These  are  helpful  to  their  members  and  form  a 
needed  center  for  social  intercom-se,  but,  it  is  unfortunate 
that  one  influence  is  often  to  cut  the  Latin-American  stu- 
dents off  from  contact  with  the  other  students,  preventing 
them  from  learning  the  language  and  entering  into  the  col- 
lege life  of  their  fellow  students.  It  is  possible  that  a  policy 
of  electing  a  larger  number  of  associate  members  from  among 
the  sympathetic  North  American  students  who  appreciate 
and  are  interested  in  the  Latin-American  culture,  would 
serve  to  lessen  the  disadvantages  while  retaining  the  advan- 
tages which  they  undoubtedly  offer. 

The  Cosmopolitan  Clubs  have  had  a  large  share  in  the 
movement  for  closer  international  contact  between  all  Amer- 
ican students  in  recent  years.  In  institutions  in  which 
strong  Cosmopolitan  Clubs  exist  the  Latin-American  stu- 
dents often  take  an  important  part  in  their  activities  and 
reach  the  larger  university  communities  by  means  of  Argen- 
tine evenings,  Brazilian  evenings,  Spanish-American  even- 
ings, Latin-American  evenings,  etc.  The  Cosmopolitan 
Clubs  have  been  largely  instrumental  in  establishing  con- 
tact between  the  student  bodies  of  North  and  South  America 


UNIVERSITIES   AND    INTERNATIONAL   RELATIONS         325 

also.  Through  their  efforts  a  large  delegation  of  students 
from  the  United  States  took  part  in  the  Third  International 
Congress  of  .\jnerican  Students  at  Lima,  Peru,  in  1912. 
These  congresses,  which  seek  to  emphasize  the  unity  of 
ideals  and  the  community  of  interest  of  America's  new  gen- 
eration, illustrate  the  mine  of  undeveloped  resources  for 
international  friendship  which  are  present  in  the  student 
bodies  of  American  universities.  At  no  other  time  is  it  so 
easy  for  the  Latin  and  Anglo-Saxon  to  learn  to  understand 
and  value  the  other  as  in  youth,  and  this  understanding 
r.ice  gained  is  treasured  for  life. 

Since  the  Seventh  International  Congress  of  Students  at 
I  The  Hague  in  1909  another  bond  has  been  established  be- 
tween the  students  of  Pan-America  by  means  of  the  "Corda 
Fratres"  or  International  Federation  of  Students.  The  As- 
sociation of  Cosmopolitan  C'lubs  and  the  Federacion  LTni- 
versitaria  of  Buenos  Aires  joined  the  International  Feder- 
ation at  this  Hague  Congress,  and  at  the  Pan->imerican 
Student  Congress  in  Lima  in  1912  the  entire  Liga  de  los 
Estudiantes  Americanos  entered  the  "Corda  Fratres"  move- 
ment. At  the  Ninth  International  Congress  of  Students 
held  at  Ithaca,  N.  Y.,  last  September,  the  Latin-i\jnerican 
delegation  reached  a  total  of  35  students,  many  of  whom 
were  sent  by  their  governments.  The  interest  of  the  Latin- 
American  students  in  the  International  Federation  and  the 
Congress  was  so  great  that  it  was  decided  to  hold  the  Tenth 
International  Congress,  August  15-30,  1915,  in  Montevideo, 
Uruguay,  and  the  representative  from  Porto  Rico,  Mr. 
Miguel  A.  Munoz,  was  elected  the  secretary  of  the  Central 
Committee  of  the  Federation. 

In  considering  the  definite  measures  by  which  the  work 
of  the  conference  for  better  relations  with  Latin  America 
may  be  continued  by  the  Universities,  we  may  build  on  the 
foundations  already  laid,  and  the  following  may  be  sug- 
gested as  a  beginning: 

/.  Courses  on  Latin  Avierica,  like  those  already  introduced 
with  such  success  into  a  dozen  universities,  should  be  intro- 
duced into  every  important  institution  in  the  United  States 
during  the  next  few  years. 


326  GEORGE   W.    NASMYTH 

2.  A  System  of  Exchange  Professors  should  be  established 
with  the  Latin-American  countries,  similar  to  those  between 
the  United  States,  and  Germany,  France  and  Japan.  Besides 
a  deeper  insight  into  Latin-American  political  institutions, 
literature  and  art,  we  have  much  to  gain  from  the  Latin- 
American  point  of  view  in  such  subjects  as  law,  where  the 
Roman  law,  the  Napoleonic  code  and  the  philosophy  of  law 
have  been  developed  and  studied  in  republican  govern- 
ments and  under  conditions  similar  to  our  own. 

5.  Scholarships  and  Interchange  of  Students.  A  system  of 
scholarships  analogous  to  the  Rhodes  scholarships,  available 
for  study  in  the  United  States  by  students  from  each  of  the 
Latin-American  countries  would  be  the  ideal  plan.  Such 
a  system  of  Pan-American  scholarships  regarded  as  prizes, 
and,  with  conditions  for  securing  students  of  high  ability 
and  character,  would  be  a  powerful  influence  extending  far 
beyond  the  students  directly  concerned.  Failing  an  endow- 
ment for  this  purpose,  however,  the  existing  traveling  schol- 
arships and  exchange  fellowships  now  offered  by  many  of 
the  Latin- American  governments  should  be  developed,  with 
provisions  for  insuring  a  knowledge  of  the  language  and 
ability  to  benefit  by  the  opportunity  to  the  fullest  extent. 
(The  Argentine  government  is  now  considering  the  estabhsh- 
ment  of  100  such  scholarships.) 

4.  International  Hospitality.  With  better  organization, 
the  Spanish  and  Latin-American  Clubs  and  Fraternities  in 
the  universities  could  become  centers  of  hospitality  and 
intimate  intercourse  for  Pan-American  students.  The 
universities  can  assist  directly,  also,  by  the  appointment 
of  advisers  for  foreign  students,  and  by  strengthening 
the  Cosmopolitan  Clubs,  which  are  devoting  an  increasing 
amount  of  attention  to  the  students  from  Latin  America. 

6.  Information.  The  value  of  study  in  the  United 
States  would  be  greatly  increased  by  the  publication  of  a 
handbook  in  Spanish  and  Portuguese  (preferably  by  the  Bu- 
reau of  Education)  giving  advice  in  regard  to  preparation, 
and  information  concerning  the  requirements  for  admission, 
the  special  advantages  offered  by  the  various  institutions, 
tuition,  fees,  cost  of  living,  etc. 


UNIVERSITIES   AND   INTERNATIONAL   RELATIONS        327 

6.  Pan-American  Two-Cent  Postage.  This  is  a  measure 
of  far  reaching  educational  importance,  as  a  means  for  facil- 
itating the  communication  of  ideas,  and  thus  creating  closer 
intellectual  relations  between  the  Americas. 

7.  Pan-American  Scientific  Congress.  The  Conference 
might  well  pass  a  resolution  in  favor  of  the  United  States 
government  making  adequate  provision  for  the  Second  Pan- 
American  Scientific  Congress,  and  thus  take  a  step  toward 
the  removal  of  this  national  discourtesy. 

8.  International  Student  Congresses.  Wide  publicity  should 
be  given  in  student  publications  to  the  Fourth  International 
Congress  of  American  Students,  at  Santiago  de  Chile  in 
July,  1914,  and  to  the  Ninth  International  Congress  of 
Students  at  Montevideo,  Uruguay,  August  15-30,  1915,  in 
the  effort  to  secure  large  and  representative  delegations  of 
students  from  the  universities  of  the  United  States. 

9.  International  Study  Tours.  In  connection  with  these 
congresses  study  tours  through  the  principal  countries  of 
South  America  should  be  well  organized. 

10.  Formation  of  Cos7fiopolitan  and  International  Polity 
Clubs.  The  fundamental  trouble  with  the  public  opinion 
in  the  United  States  which  has  led  to  the  misunderstandings 
which  now  exist  with  Latin  America  is  not  wrong  motive, 
but  indifference,  and  ignorance  (1)  of  the  importance  of  in- 
ternational friendship  and  cooperation,  (2)  of  the  principles 
underlying  these,  and  (3)  of  the  practical  means  for  attain- 
ing them.  We  should  establish  in  every  important  college 
and  university  a  club  for  the  scientific  study  and  the  propa- 
ganda of  the  true  principles  of  international  relations,  and 
thus  create  an  educated  and  powerful  public  opinion  which 
will  insure  more  cordial  relations  with  Latin  .-Vmerica,  as 
well  as  with  Europe  and  Asia,  in  the  future. 


PATAGONIA  AND  TIERRA  DEL  FUEGO 

By  Jose  Moneta,   Captain,   Argentine  Navy,    Commanding 

Battleship  "  Rivadavia,"  formerly  member  of  the  Argentine 

Boundary  Commissions  with  Chile  and  Brazil 

Until  very  recently,  maps  of  South  America  have  been 
published  in  which  Patagonia  appears  with  a  color  differ- 
ent from  that  of  Argentine,  as  if  it  were  an  independent 
country.  This  is  in  accordance  with  the  general  idea  of  the 
world,  that  that  region  of  South  America  is  populated  only 
by  Indians  and  that  it  is  the  theatre  merely  of  great  des- 
olation and  misery. 

From  the  famous  voyages  of  Magellan,  and  of  Bougain- 
ville, Drake,  Sarmiento  and  many  others,  all  of  them  sur- 
rounded by  the  most  extraordinary  and  romantic  adventures, 
to  those  of  Captains  King  and  Fitz-Roy  on  board  the  .4  c?- 
veniure  and  Beagle  from  1826  to  1830,  very  little  informa- 
tion could  be  had  regarding  that  region.  The  navigators 
referred  to  its  desolate  shores  and  to  the  enormous  disap- 
pointments, troubles  and  penuries  they  had  suffered.  The 
Indians  found  were  considered  giants  and  undoubtedly  this 
fantasy  exaggerated  their  characteristics. 

In  fact,  the  name  of  Patagonia  cannot  be  referred,  as  it 
is  believed,  to  the  great  size  of  the  legs  or  feet  of  the  men 
found.  These  on  the  contrary  had  comparatively  small  feet; 
they  were  corpulent,  but  had  very  short  legs;  they  were  there- 
fore giants  when  on  horse  back  or  sitting  in  a  boat,  but  their 
height  rarely  exceeded  6  feet. 

Perhaps  the  atmospheric  refraction  that  gives  extraor- 
dinary effects  in  all  the  Patagonian  coast,  raising  a  great  deal 
the  height  of  the  objects,  made  the  natives  look  big  when  the 
travelers  could  not  approach  them  nearer  than  200  or  300 
yards.    Possibly  this  was  the  origin  of  the  legend. 

I  am  saying  that  they  had  these  measurements,  because  the 
traveler  of  today  will  hardly  find  camps  of  Tehuelches  or 

328 


PATAGONIA   AND   TIERRA    DEL   FUEGO  329 

Genaken  Indians  as  the  pure  blood  natives  are  now  very 
scarce.  I  think  that  my  friend  Charles  ^^^  Furlong  of  Boston, 
a  studious  explorer  who  a  few  years  ago  went  to  visit  them, 
has  not  found  more  than  fifty  real  Teheulches  together. 

Those  Indians  were  never  numerous  nor  were  they  fighters 
and  at  present  they  are  disappearing  very  rapidly.  Other 
types  of  human  races,  now  totally  extinguished,  have  been 
evidenced  in  the  investigations  of  the  geologists,  for  whose 
studies  like  those  of  the  zoologists  and  botanists,  Patagonia 
offers  a  great  field  of  action. 

In  the  description  of  Fitz-Roy's  journey,  whose  principal 
object  was  to  make  the  hydrographical  chart  of  the  South 
Atlantic,  there  are  found  interesting  observations  about 
the  different  opinions  and  controversies  regarding  the  natives 
of  that  region.  As  in  that  description  he  refers  to  other  ear- 
lier navigators  of  those  shores,  the  interest  of  its  reading 
increases  with  the  relation  of  manj"^  adventures  and  extra- 
ordinary enterprises  often  full  of  terror,  that  showed  the 
strength  and  spirit  of  those  brave  explorers. 

The  imposing  solitude  of  the  region,  the  enormous  dis- 
tance and  long  absence  from  home,  predisposed  them  un- 
favourably, and  the  same  Fitz-Roy,  and  the  eminent  natur- 
alist, Darwin,  who  accompanied  him,  returned  from  their 
voyage  with  a  very  poor  impression  of  those  lands.  Two 
things  that  the  sailors  of  those  times  ardently  wanted  to 
find  in  their  anchoring  grounds  were  missing,  fresh  water 
and  wood. 

Darwin  went  up  the  Santa  Cruz  River,  but  he  did  not 
reach  the  lakes.  At  his  return  he  said  Patagonia  was  a 
sterile  and  good-for-nothing  land. 

Somebody  has  said  that  this  mistake  of  the  immortal 
author  of  the  Origin  of  Species  saved  for  Argentinians  that 
part  of  the  continent,  not  awakening  England  in  the  desire 
of  possessing  it.  The  Monroe  Doctrine  was  then  in  its  in- 
fancy; and  Argentina  was  fighting  with  the  natural  difficul- 
ties of  the  organization  of  the  country. 

In  the  year  ISSO,  Argentina  began  to  make  effective  its 
rights  upon  the  Patagonian  shores  and  lands,  installing 
authorities  in  some  places;  and  from  then  on  explorations 


330 


J0S6   MONETA 


through  the  interior  were  initiated  by  officers  of  our  navy  and 
army,  and  by  geographers  from  several  institutes. 

To  determine  the  boundary  between  Chile  and  Argentina 
a  treaty  was  signed  in  1881,  agreeing  that  down  to  parallel 
52  degrees  south  the  Andean  Cordillera  should  separate  the 
two  Republics.  A  great  difficulty  came  in  the  determination 
of  that  line.  Argentina  maintained  that  it  was  the  line  of 
the  summit  in  the  same  Cordillera,  while  the  Chileans 
contended  that  it  should  be  the  continental  water  shed, 
separating  the  streams  flowing  from  the  Cordillera  toward 
the  Atlantic  at  the  east,  and  toward  the  pacific  at  the  west. 
The  lakes  on  the  region  increased  the  difficulty ;  some  of  them 
empty  into  the  monotonous  rivers  of  the  Atlantic,  others 
reach  the  Pacific  in  impetuous  torrents  that  cut  through  the 
total  mass  of  the  Cordillera. 

This  phenomenon  of  a  dividing  line  separating  waters 
which  flow  into  opposite  oceans,  and  which  partly  rise  in 
plains  and  glens  hardly  higher  that  the  level  of  the  sea, 
and  which  overcome  such  formidable  obstacles  as  the  An- 
dean Cordillera,  piercing  its  crystalline  axis  and  the  enor- 
mous mass  of  rocks  which  have  accumulated  upon  this  axis, 
constitutes,  as  one  of  the  most  eminent  Argentine  geogra- 
phers, Mr.  Francis  Moreno  says,  "a  fact  which  is  unique  in 
the  world." 

The  dispute  was  submitted  to  the  arbitral  decision  of  the 
King  of  England.  A  commission  of  geographical  officers  was 
assigned,  and  in  accordance  with  its  report  the  arbiter  gave 
to  each  nation  what  in  his  judgement  rightly  belonged  to  it. 
The  decision  was  accepted  with  due  respect,  initiating  be- 
tween both  countries  an  epoch  of  true  friendship  that  will 
always  last.  In  the  same  way  Argentina  had  respected  pre- 
viously the  arbitral  decision  that  was  against  her  in  the 
Misiones  dispute  with  Brazil,  awarded  by  President  Grover 
Cleveland  of  the  United  States. 

The  southernmost  nations  of  the  American  continent  have 
taken  into  practice  this  pacific  method  of  arranging  their 
disputes,  that  is  yet  only  an  idea  dreamt  by  prominent  men 
of  the  greatest  nations  of  the  world. 


PATAGONIA   AND   TIERRA    DEL   FUEGO  331 

All  danger  of  international  complications  having  disap- 
peared the  first  step  of  the  government  was  to  exchange 
contracts  for  war  material  amounting  to  some  millions  of 
dollars,  into  contracts  for  railway  material  for  immediate 
use  in  the  construction  of  lines  between  the  Atlantic  and  the 
Andes. 

Let  me  say,  before  examining  the  actual  condition  of  that 
land,  that  the  name  "Patagonia"  is  not  a  pohtical  denomi- 
nation of  a  certain  section  of  Argentine  soil.  Its  northern 
limit  has  always  been  considered  to  extend  from  Rio  Negro 
to  the  Strait  of  IVIagellans,  not  including  the  pampa  terri- 
tory more  immediate  to  Buenos  Aires,  which  is  much  more 
populated  and  richer,  and  in  such  an  actual  prosperous  con- 
dition that  as  soon  as  the  census  lately  ordered  by  congres- 
sional law  is  finished,  it  will  be  incorporated  without  any 
doubt  in  the  number  of  the  Argentine  provinces. 

Patagonia,  properly  speaking,  is  divided  into  four  national 
territories,  Rio  Negro,  Neuquen,  Chubut  and  Santa  Cruz, 
each  one  with  a  governor  and  other  authorities  appointed 
by  the  national  executive  power.  Its  total  area  is  323,000 
square  miles,  which  is  about  the  same  in  size  as  all  the  States 
of  New  England  together  with  the  states  of  New  Yorlv, 
Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  both  Virginias  and  North  Carolina. 

A  slight  description  of  the  territory  will  give  you  an  idea 
of  its  nature  and  climate. 

The  valleys  irrigated  by  the  capacious  rivers  Negro  and 
Colorado,  navigable  in  their  larger  part,  are  made  fertile  by 
the  periodic  flows  of  these  fluvial  arteries;  but  as  the  flows 
sometimes  become  so  great  that  they  constitute  a  danger, 
the  national  government  has  made  a  contract  for  the  con- 
struction of  enormous  works  of  canalization  and  irrigation, 
with  the  object  of  fertilizing  great  extensions  of  land  that 
are  now  deprived  of  that  benefit.  It  will  not  be  surprising 
when  the  work  now  begun  is  finished,  to  see  the  district  or 
valley  embraced  by  both  rivers  transformed  into  one  of  the 
most  productive  agricultural  sections  of  the  country. 

The  climate  is  generally  dry  and  healthy.  The  mean 
temperature  is  57°  F.  All  the  region  is  adaptable  for  agri- 
culture.   WTieat,  flax,  barley  and  vegetables  grow  perfectly, 


332  JOSE   MONETA 

as  well  as  alfalfa  and  other  forage  fit  for  live  stock.  All 
kinds  of  fruit  are  cultivated  and  vines  of  esteemed  value  are 
harvested. 

There  are  fifty  schools  in  that  district  where  3000  students 
receive  instruction. 

The  oriental  part  of  the  territory  of  Neuquen  is  flat  and 
very  rich  in  pastures,  while  the  occidental  is  crossed  by  the 
branches  from  the  Cordillera,  which  leave  between  them 
beautiful  and  picturesque  valleys  irrigated  by  many  rivers 
and  brooks.    Generally  all  the  territory  is  fertile. 

The  climate  is  very  healthful  and  adaptable  for  the  de- 
velopment of  animal  and  vegetable  life.  Nevertheless,  it 
varies  according  to  the  districts:  in  the  east  and  southwest 
it  is  cold  and  at  the  summit  of  the  mountains  there  are  per- 
petual snows. 

The  Nahuel-Huapi  Lake,  one  of  the  largest  of  the  Pata- 
gonian  region  is  at  a  height  of  2952  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
Pacific  Ocean.  Its  contour  is  very  irregular,  and  in  its  steep 
borders  there  are  deep  gulfs  similar  to  the  Norwegian 
"fiords."  The  beautiful  panorama  that  nature  offers  in  the 
rugged  regions  that  surround  the  lake,  can  only  be  compared 
with  the  picturesque  Central  Alps,  the  summit  of  Mount 
Tronador  being  6600  feet  in  height,  with  deep  valleys  and 
forrests  of  pines,  cypresses,  araucarias  and  other  trees  which 
thrive  similarly. 

The  bluish  waters  of  the  lake  which  are  fresh  and  drinkable, 
agitate  as  those  of  a  sea  on  account  of  the  strong  winds  of 
the  Cordillera.  Its  depth  exceeds  200  fathoms,  and  is  navi- 
gated by  steamers  that  connect  with  the  ports  on  its  borders. 

It  contains  thirty-five  small  islands;  receives  water  from 
several  tributaries  from  which  the  capacious  Limay  River, 
a  branch  of  the  River  Negro,  navigable  in  all  its  extension, 
has  its  origin. 

Important  hydraulic  works  will  be  made  on  this  territory; 
among  them  the  most  remarkable  one,  which  is  almost 
finished,  will  be  the  dam  in  the  Vidal  basin,  a  natural  de- 
pression of  the  land  that  makes  an  enormous  receptacle  of 
which  the  hydraulic  capacity  is  enough  to  provide  with 
artificial  fertilization  the  territories  of  Neuquen  and  Rio 


PATAGONIA   AND   TIERKA   DEL   FUEGO  333 

Negro;  both  will  then  be  able  to  give  their  soils  a  permanent 
and  sure  agricultural  exploitation  without  being  exposed  to 
the  chances  of  good  and  bad  harvest. 

Actually  in  those  Andean  valleys,  irrigated  by  capacious 
rivers  whose  currents  will  some  day  be  used  as  an  economic 
motive  power,  there  are  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  million 
acres  of  land,  unsurpassable  for  the  production  of  cereals, 
vines,  and  fruit  trees;  and  there  are  already  several  agricul- 
tural colonies  that  obtain  valuable  crops  of  grain  and  grapes. 

The  live  stock  wealth  is  also  plentiful  in  proportion  to 
the  inhabitants.  The  agricultural  and  mining  products  are 
exported  through  Bahia  Blanca  and  a  large  quantity  of 
the  meat  products  are  exported  to  C'hile.  The  native  flocks 
are  being  refined  with  thoroughbreds  from  the  septentrional 
countries  of  Europe  which  are  those  best  adapted  to  the 
climate  and  to  the  topography  of  the  country. 

The  mining  industry  promises  a  great  future  and  there  are 
now  three  companies  working  its  rich  mines  of  gold.  Copper, 
quartz  and  coal  also  exist.  Oil  beds  have  been  discovered, 
which  are  easily  accessible,  but  at  this  time  no  work  has 
begun. 

The  soil  of  Chubut  is  fertile  and  adapted  to  the  tillage 
of  the  temperate  zone,  as  is  proven  by  the  prosperous  Welsh 
colonies,  established  on  the  lower  basin  of  the  Chubut  River 
which  is  formed  by  wash-out  lands  unsurpassable  for  the 
cultivation  of  cereals.  It  is  true  that  there  are  besides  these 
valleys,  arid,  rocky  and  dry  districts,  but  there  are  also  prai- 
ries with  good  pastures,  and  in  the  basins  of  the  lakes  and 
rivers  there  are  great  stretches  of  woodlands,  with  trees  that 
supply  excellent  white  wood,  such  as  araucaria,  oak  and  pine. 

The  expansion  of  agriculture  to  any  great  extent  in  the 
valleys  of  the  Cordillera  is  not  at  present  possible,  notwith- 
standing the  fertility  of  the  soil,  as  the  enormous  distances  to 
the  ports  of  shipment  together  with  the  lack  of  means  of 
transportation,  make  impossible  their  development.  Future 
railroads  that  will  connect  these  valleys  with  the  Atlantic 
coast  will  establish  an  epoch  of  agricultural  production  of  an 
incalculable  value. 

Santa  Cruz  is  made  up  of  a  series  of  extensive  sloping 


334 


JOSi;   MONETA 


plateaus  that  descend  in  succession,  from  the  Cordillera 
towards  the  sea,  whose  sinuous  shores  are  bordered  by  hills 
or  sand  banks  of  small  height. 

The  Deseado  River  is  dry  toward  the  interior  and  is  now 
only  a  deep  entrance  of  the  sea.  The  Santa  Cruz  River  is 
navigable  in  its  larger  part,  carrying  to  the  Atlantic  the 
waters  of  the  great  lakes  Misterioso,  Viedma,  Argentino  and 
others;  all  of  these  are  joined  by  narrow  but  deep  channels. 

The  general  aspect  of  the  region  of  the  lake  is  similar  to 
the  one  previously  referred  to  when  speaking  of  the  Nahuel- 
Huapi  Lake. 

The  climate  is  cold  and  healthy.  The  minimum  tempera- 
ture registered  at  Gallegos,  which  is  the  coldest  point  of  the 
coast,  is  10°  F.  below  zero.  Generally  4°  below  zero  is  reached 
during  winter. 

Santa  Cruz  has  rich  gold  mines,  rich  placer  mines,  coal 
and  salt  mines;  on  its  shores  there  are  a  large  number  of  seals. 
The  Andean  region  has  an  enormous  forest  wealth. 

Even  though  the  population  is  small,  the  commerce  of  the 
territory  is  enormous;  there  are  at  the  capital  (the  town  of 
Gallegos),  very  important  exporting  concerns  and  branches 
of  three  banks.  There  is  a  refrigerating  plant  that  turns  out 
about  200,000  muttons  yearly. 

In  all  this  enormous  extension  of  land,  there  are  at  present 
only  100,000  inhabitants,  something  like  30,000  in  each  of 
the  northern  territories  and  10,000  in  Santa  Cruz;  as  a  total 
there  is  one  inhabitant  every  three  square  miles.  In  the 
states  of  Arizona,  Wyoming  and  Nevada  there  were  more 
than  double  this  per  square  mile  in  1890. 

Those  100,000  inhabitants  of  Patagonia  are  of  the  white 
European  race,  with  the  exception  of  a  very  few  Indians  and 
half-breeds  whose  number  does  not  reach  5000. 

In  1866  a  small  Welsh  colony  was  founded  in  the  terri- 
tory of  Chubut,  who  emigrated  from  their  country  under  con- 
ditions similar  to  those  of  the  Pilgrims  of  Massachusetts. 
Before  twenty  years  elapsed,  the  first  Patagonian  railway 
connected  their  prosperous  colony  at  the  valleys  of  the  river 
with  Port  Madryn  which  offered  a  natural  port  for  their 
products.    Noth withstanding  certain  difficulties  in  assimila- 


PATAGONIA   AND   TIERRA    DEL   FUEGO  335 

ting  them  to  the  Ufe  of  the  country,  we  can  give  assurance 
that  the  present  generation  of  .Argentines,  sons  of  these 
Welshmen,  love  the  land  where  they  were  born  and  the  flag 
that  protects  them,  and  offer  themselves  with  enthusiasm  to 
the  military  service  which  is  compulsory  in  our  country. 

This  has  been  brought  about  in  part  by  the  frequent  visits 
of  ships  of  our  navy  which  practice  now  and  then  on  that 
coast,  as  well  as  by  certain  Italian  immigration  with  which 
they  have  begun  to  mix. 

Further  south,  near  Lake  Munster  and  Colhuap6,  there 
are  some  Boer  colonies  to  which  the  national  government 
gave  land  and  facilities.  The  rest  of  the  population,  in  the 
ranches  to  the  Straits,  is  of  English  and  German  origin;  there 
are  also  Austrians,  Swedes,  Norwegians  and  Dutch,  but  in 
the  commerce  of  the  towns  the  Italians  and  especially  the 
Argentines  predominate. 

In  this  region  there  are  now  295,000  acres  of  land  that 
have  been  cultivated,  half  of  this  being  in  the  territory  of  Rio 
Negro.  There  is  a  total  of  841,000  cows,  10,000,000  sheep, 
500,000  horses  and  300,000  goats.  How  many  acres  of  culti- 
vated land  and  how  many  of  these  animals  could  Patagonia 
have,  whose  climate  is  well  superior  to  that  of  many  coun- 
tries, when  it  will  be  populated  in  the  proportion  of  the  poor- 
est Stat«  of  the  United  States,  is  hard  to  guess. 

Of  the  quadrupeds  of  the  Patagonian  fauna  the  common 
ones  are  the  guanaco,  the  hare  and  the  fox.  The  number  of 
guanacos  increases  towards  the  south  and  that  of  the  hares 
diminishes  until  they  almost  disappear  at  the  Strait. 

It  is  impossible  to  calculate  the  number  of  guanacos  scat- 
tered in  that  enormous  territory;  I  have  seen  twenty  years 
ago  in  valleys  near  Gallogos  River  multitudes  of  those  ani- 
mals which  densely  cover  all  the  hills  giving  to  them  the  red 
tint  of  their  backs  as  far  as  the  eye-glasses  could  reach.  The 
impression  was  that  there  were  right  there,  thousands  of 
thousands.  Since  the  establishment  of  ranches  the  owners 
do  not  pursue  them  any  more  in  order  to  avoid  the  destruc- 
tion of  their  wire  fences;  therefore,  they  have  gone  towards 
the  Cordillera  losing  the  advantage  of  spending  the  severe 
winters  in  the  temperate  valleys  near  the  Ocean;  owing  to 


336 


JOSE   MONETA 


this  an  important  decrease  has  occurred.  A  very  few  In- 
dians hunt  them  for  their  skins;  of  these  they  join  together 
about  twenty  generally  by  the  inferior  part  of  the  skin  of  the 
young  ones,  making  thus  a  handsome  rug  that  is  very  much 
appreciated. 

At  the  south  there  is  always  found  the  "puma"  or  Ameri- 
can lion,  which  causes  great  damage  to  live  stock  and  is 
therefore  pursued. 

There  are  all  kinds  of  birds  belonging  to  the  temperate 
and  cold  zones;  there  is  an  abundance  of  ducks,  "abutardas" 
and  swans;  the  Patagonian  swan  has  a  white  body  with  a 
black  neck  and  is  smaller  than  the  European  and  North 
American. 

All  over  the  coast  there  are  sea  gulls  and  a  great  variety 
and  number  of  aquatic  birds.  The  penguins  build  their 
nests  in  bushes  near  the  sea  shore;  enormous  flocks  of  these 
ridiculous  birds  may  be  seen  standing  on  the  beach  showing 
the  feathers  of  their  white  breasts  which  contrast  strikingly 
with  their  dark  bodies  much  as  if  they  were  a  crowd  in  a  stad- 
ium. Other  times  further  than  300  miles  from  shore  their 
dissonant  screams  from  the  water,  when  they  appear  be- 
tween two  plunges,  are  an  omen  of  the  next  storm  to  the 
superstitious  sailor. 

Nature  has  not  given  Patagonia  many  natural  ports.  The 
first  important  port  starting  from  the  north  is  San  Antonio,  in 
the  Gulf  San  Matias.  Work  has  begun  on  this  port  and  is 
being  dredged  to  a  depth  of  35  feet;  a  wharf  is  also  under 
construction. 

Port  Madryn  at  the  furthest  end  of  Gulf  Nuevo  is  another 
port  of  importance.  There  are  two  wharfs  for  landing  and 
an  excellent  anchoring-ground.  Further  south,  the  only  port 
of  importance  are  Deseado,  Santa  Cruz  and  Gallegos.  There 
are  many  other  small  ports  but  none  of  them  are  very  desir- 
able. Luckily,  as  the  prevailing  winds  all  over  the  coast  are 
from  the  northwest,  west  and  southwest,  the  navigators  can 
count  upon  calm  sea  in  most  of  them  for  general  operations; 
it  is  not  strange  to  see  steamers  anchored  near  the  shore  in 
places  where  there  are  no  bays  nor  indentations,  shipping 
wool,  hides  and  other  products. 


PATAGONIA   AND   TIERRA   DEL   FUEGO  337 

At  the  furthest  end  of  Gulf  San  Jorge,  where  the  landing 
of  Comodoro  Rivadavia  is  located,  opened  to  the  winds  from 
the  sea  and  where  a  small  town  has  been  built  since  this  is 
the  point  of  export  for  the  products  from  the  colonies  of  Lakes 
Munster  and  Colhuap6,  there  was  discovered  in  1907,  wliile 
drilling  for  water,  an  important  fountain  of  oil  at  a  depth  of 
535  meters.  Since  then  thirteen  perforations  have  been  made 
with  satisfactory  results;  from  the  geological  studies  made 
along  a  large  part  of  the  coast  it  is  believed  that  the  petrolific 
beds  extend  to  great  distances  north  and  south  of  Comodoro 
Rivadavia.  The  chemical  analysis  of  this  oil  shows  that  it 
is  an  excellent  combustible.  The  Public  Works  Department 
uses  it  already  in  the  engines  of  the  Patagonian  railways, 
with  unsurpassable  results. 

From  this  oil  valuable  derivates  can  be  obtained;  some 
wells  supply  oil  that  contains  65  per  cent  of  lubricating  oil 
which  indicates  its  excellent  quality.  Last  year  the  produc- 
tion of  this  combustible  reached  1000  tons  a  week.  The 
government  has  retained  all  this  section  and  another  large 
area  in  which  the  rights  of  working  the  oil  deposits  will  be 
offered  in  public  auction. 

The  discovery  of  this  fountain  of  incalculable  wealth 
located  at  the  sea  side  only  two  days  by  water  from  the  port 
of  Bahia  Blanca  and  four  from  Buenos  Aires,  which  is  the 
second  most  important  port  of  the  whole  American  conti- 
nent, adds  an  element  very  valuable  for  the  future  progress 
of  the  Argentine  nation,  already  blessed  by  nature  with  the 
most  precious  gifts  of  a  very  fertile  soil  and  unsurpassable 
climate. 

The  national  government  is  actually  constructing  rail- 
road lines  following  a  very  well  studied  plan  already  outlined 
and  projected.  At  the  present  moment  the  following  are 
being  built :  One  that  starts  at  port  San  Antonio  towards  the 
west  to  Lake  Nahuel-Huapf.  From  there  it  turns  towards 
the  south  through  the  valleys  to  Colony  IG  de  Octubre  which 
is  at  the  origin  of  the  Chubut  River;  at  point.s  it  connects  with 
the  one  coming  from  Rio  Deseado.  Another  line  starts  from 
Comodoro  Rivadavia  and  goes  to  Lake  Buenos  Aires,  and 
cuts  the  fonner  more  or  less  at  the  meeting  of  the  Rivers 


338 


JOSE   MONETA 


Senguel  and  IVIaj^o.    The  total  extension  of  these  railroads 
now  under  construction,  will  be  aproximately  1000  miles. 

The  Andean  Cordillera  which  from  Chilo4  towards  the 
south  seems  to  sink  in  the  sea,  yet  keeping  the  same  aspect, 
its  imposing  peaks  covered  with  perpetual  snow,  and  deep 
channels  between  the  numerous  islands,  turns  towards  the 
east  until  it  disappears  at  the  last  point  of  its  tail  at  the  Isla 
de  los  Estados  or  Staten  Island  at  the  east  of  Tierra  del 
Fuego.  This  last  name  designates  the  archipelago  at  the 
south  of  the  Strait  of  Magellan ;  it  is  composed  of  one  large 
island  divided  by  a  meridian  between  Chile  and  Argentina 
and  by  numerous  smaller  islands  at  the  west  and  south  of  it. 

The  name  of  Tierra  del  Fuego  or  Land  of  Fire  did  not  origi- 
nate from  the  existence  of  volcanos  in  activity.  Perhaps  the 
first  Spanish  navigators,  who  were  very  religious  and  did  not 
forget  any  saint  without  a  geographical  accident,  saw  some 
fires  that  the  Indians  always  make  on  the  island;  as  the 
forest  starts  right  there,  there  is  no  opportunity  to  see  that 
signal  before  on  the  Patagonian  coast. 

The  western  and  southern  part  of  all  those  islands,  bat- 
tered by  the  cold  winds  from  the  Antarctic,  is  of  pure  rock 
but  where  it  is  protected  by  the  mountains  there  are  very 
dense  forests  of  beech-trees,  found  in  the  lower  lands  and 
near  the  channels,  some  of  them  of  a  meter  and  one  half  in 
diameter.  Higher  up  the  trees  decrease  in  height  until  they 
become  a  mass  of  tangled  bushes  at  a  level  of  two-thirds 
the  height  of  the  mountains,  as  if  the  permanent  snows  and 
the  violent  winds  would  not  allow  them  to  grow. 

This  forest  vegetation  which  extends  from  the  Patagonian 
lakes  to  Cape  Froward,  the  southern  extremity  of  the  con- 
tinental land,  continues  throughout  all  the  southern  half  of 
Tierra  del  Fuego  and  the  contiguous  islands  to  the  islands 
of  the  Estados. 

The  various  panoramas  that  these  channels  offer,  especially 
in  summer,  the  numerous  islands  and  small  barren  islets 
with  their  shores  covered  with  woods  which  show  in  contrast 
all  the  shades  of  green,  the  rocks  and  peaks,  some  spotted 
here  and  there  by  the  snows  and  others  under  the  eternal  ice 
of  the  high  mountains  that  sometimes  falls  in  glaciers  to  the 


PATAGONIA    AND   TIERRA    DEL   FUEGO  339 

water  side,  are  of  an  indescril)able  beauty,  only  comparable 
to  that  of  the  lakes  of  Switzerland. 

Unhappily  good  weather  does  not  prevail;  continuous 
gales  of  sleet,  hail  and  snow  follow  one  another  in  rapid  suc- 
cession, specially  in  the  western  part  of  the  archipelago.  At 
the  Beagle  Channel,  there  are,  nevertheless,  some  weeks  of 
good  weather  with  fair  and  sunny  days. 

At  the  eastern  and  northern  part  of  Tierra  del  Fuego  prop- 
erly speaking,  there  are  prairies  and  very  fertile  valleys,  and 
its  interior  reminds  us,  owing  to  its  permanent  greenness, 
of  the  center  of  England. 

Three  kind  of  Indian  races  with  different  languages  and 
characteristics  lived  in  Tierra  del  Fuego:  the  Alacalufs  and 
Vahgans  who  used  to  live  principally  on  fish  and  navigated 
in  canoes  made  from  a  single  tree,  and  the  Onas  who  lived 
in  the  northern  part  of  the  mountains  and  resemble  the 
Patagonian  Indian. 

Of  the  canoe  Indians  it  can  be  said  that  they  have  almost 
totally  disappeared;  alcohol,  small-pox  and  other  diseases 
obtained  from  their  contact  with  the  white  race  have  almost 
extinguished  them;  they  were  short  and  of  very  small  extrem- 
ities. The  Onas  who  lived  in  the  woods  and  prairies  of  the 
north  and  east  were  of  a  higher  type,  tall,  strong  and  of  l)et- 
ter  proportions  than  the  l^atagonians;  they  always  traveled 
on  foot  and  with  extraordinary  speed;  they  did  not  know 
horses;  when  the  first  horses  were  taken  for  the  demarcation 
of  the  boundary  line  between  Chile  and  Argentina  in  1891, 
it  was  the  first  time  they  had  seen  one,  and  thought  that  the 
man  on  horse-back  and  the  horse  constituted  only  one  animal 
with  two  heads. 

All  those  Indians  were  very  poor;  they  used  to  hunt  with 
their  arrows  guanacos  and  birds  that  are  found  in  great  num- 
bers. A\'hen  a  whale  went  aground  on  the  shores  it  was  a 
fause  for  great  joy  and  festivity;  they  devoured  crazily  whale 
meat  and  rubbed  their  bodies  with  the  grease. 

Another  great  festivity  for  them  was  a  shipwreck,  from 
which  they  not  only  provided  themselves  with  provisions  but 
with  utensils  that  were  needful.  With  steam  navigation 
through  the  Strait  and  the  greater  knowledge  of  the  coast. 


340 


JOSE   MONETA 


shipwrecks  decreased ;  in  regard  to  this  I  recall  an  old  Indian 
who  told  me:  "Life  is  becoming  too  hard,  there  are  no  more 
wrecks." 

It  has  never  been  proved  that  these  Indians  were  cannibals; 
in  the  cases  of  the  murder  of  white  persons  that  we  know, 
what  they  did  was  to  burn  their  bodies  in  a  bonfire. 

There  are  no  more  than  600  Indians  in  all ;  the  whole  land 
is  covered  by  ranches  in  prosperous  condition,  some  of 
them  connected  with  great  plantations  of  the  Chilean  re- 
gion which  overlooks  the  Strait,  having  ports  with  facilities 
for  shipping  their  products. 

The  Argentine  part  inhabited  by  only  3000  people  has 
12,000  cows,  1,700,000  sheep,  and  11,000  horses. 

The  navigation  of  the  Strait  has  been  affected  by  the  Trans- 
andean  railroad  from  Buenos  Aires  to  Valparaiso  and  will  be 
affected  much  more  by  the  Panama  Canal.  The  Chilean 
population  of  Punta  Arenas  will  remain  a  center  of  activity 
for  all  that  region  so  important  for  its  live  stock,  gold  and 
coal  mines. 

The  capital  of  the  Argentine  territory  of  Tierra  del  Fuego 
is  at  Ushuaia  on  the  Beagle  Channel,  Here  there  is  an  im- 
portant reformatory  prison;  the  working  of  lumber,  gold 
mines  and  other  products  keeps  it  in  a  state  of  prosperity. 
There  are  also  branches  of  the  national  bank  and  of  important 
commerce  concerns.  There  is  frequent  communication  with 
Punta  Arenas  and  steamship  lines  connect  it  with  Buenos 
Aires. 

Staten  Island  is  an  ensemble  of  abrupt  peaks  of  the  most 
irregular  and  unposing  forms.  It  is  not  populated;  in  a  small 
island  north  of  the  former  called  Ano  Nuevo,  where  there  is 
a  lighthouse,  the  government  keeps  a  magnetic  observatory 
directed  by  officers  of  our  navy,  as  well  as  a  powerful  wire- 
less station. 

Many  of  the  sailing-ships  that  turn  Cape  Horn  pass 
through  the  Strait  of  Lemaire  when  they  have  good  wind 
with  which  they  save  many  miles. 

Calms  combined  with  strong  currents  in  the  neighborhood 
of  these  coasts  as  well  as  dense  fogs  and  eiTors  in  the  ship's 
position,  after  long  days  at  sea,  are  the  cause  of  frequent 


PATAGONIA   AND   TIERRA   DEL   FUEGO  341 

wrecks  on  the  shores  of  both  the  island  and  the  continental 
land. 

The  national  telegraph  goes  through  the  coast  to  Cape 
Virgenes  and  towards  the  interior  to  the  Colony  16  de  Oc- 
tubre.  Besides  this  there  are  wireless  stations  in  Punta  Del- 
gada,  Virgenes,  Ano  Nuevo  and  Ushuaia. 

The  ports  of  the  Patagonian  coasts  are  frequently  visited 
by  good  steamers  of  a  subsidery  line  of  the  Hamburg-Amer- 
ican Line,  that  maintains  a  service  every  fifteen  days;  there 
are  two  other  lines  of  Argentine  ships  besides  cargo-boats  and 
sail  boats  specially  freighted  by  the  exporting  companies. 

With  this  showing  of  civilization  and  progress,  Patagonia 
and  Tierra  del  Fuego  are  no  longer  ignored  and  mysterious 
lands.  The  navigator  nears  the  coast  and  sees  light-houses 
and  beacons.  Houses  in  the  lively  towns  show  their  white- 
ness and  the  smoke  of  the  railroad  engines  and  factories  can 
also  be  perceived. 

Patagonia  of  the  legends,  used  to  localize  fantastic  nar- 
rations or  to  give  funny  titles  for  nobles  of  operettas,  is  now  a 
country  in  full  progress;  to  give  it  a  peculiar  tone,  it  will 
only  remain  the  penguin  at  the  coast  and  the  guanaco  at  the 
interior;  and  Argentines  of  the  future  generation  will  be  able 
to  increase  with  four  or  five  the  number  of  their  provinces 
or  states  in  a  similar  way  as  the  United  States  has  increased 
the  number  of  stars  on  its  beautiful  flag. 


THE  PHYSICAL  BASIS  OF  THE  ARGENTINE 

NATION 

By  Bailey  Willis,  Ph.D.,  Consulting  Geologist  to  the  Minister 
of  Public  Works,  Argentina,  1911-1913:   Member  of 
the  United  States  Geological  Survey 

The  point  of  view  which  is  accepted  in  this  paper  is  that 
of  a  study  in  evolution,  involving  the  well  established  prin- 
ciple that  any  organism  on  migi^ating  into  a  new  region 
becomes  modified  by  adjustment  to  its  envii'onment,  and 
develops  activities  suited  to  the  conditions  of  life  by  which 
it  is  surrounded.  As  applied  to  all  the  lower  ranks  of  am-* 
mals,  the  bearing  of  this  principle  of  adaptation  is  not  ques- 
tioned, nor  does  its  validity  need  to  be  argued  in  applying 
it  to  races  of  men,  or  even  to  nations.  Let  me  illustrate 
the  point  by  referring  to  the  migrations  of  Asiatic  tribes 
into  Europe,  where  several  thousand  years  ago  new  nations 
were  born  and  civilization  began  that  evolution  from  which 
we  are  developing.  It  was  in  the  new  environment  that 
the  human  race  made  progress.  Once  more,  and  for  the 
last  time,  when  Columbus  led  the  Europeans  to  the  Ameri- 
can continent  a  similar  great  opportunity  offered  itself  to 
humanity.  Under  the  tremendous  stimulus  of  modern 
forces  we  already  see  progress  toward  the  evolution  of  a 
higher  type  of  man,  the  Pan-American. 

In  all  parts  of  the  Americas  the  ^imerican  type  is  be- 
coming distinct  in  physical  and  mental  characteristics 
from  the  European  stocks  from  which  it  originated.  Every- 
where evolutions  are  going  on,  in  each  region  according  to 
the  racial  factors  of  the  colonizing  peoples  and  the  physical 
factors  of  the  environment  into  which  they  have  migrated. 
From  the  snowy  north  lands  of  Canada,  through  the  fer- 
tile savannahs  of  the  United  States,  in  the  tropics  of  the 
Isthmus  and  the  Amazon,  on  southward  across  the  vast 

342 


THE    PHYSICAL   BASIS   OF   THE   ARGENTINE    NATION      343 

river  flats  of  the  Paraguay,  over  the  breezy  Pampas  to  the 
misty  channels  of  Magellan,  under  all  the  varied  condi- 
tions of  plain  and  mountain,  of  sunnj'  grass  lands  and  shady 
forests,  the  European  races  have  spread  and  are  evolving 
new  types  of  men,  de\'eloping  new  nations.  Their  evo- 
lution reflects  the  influence  of  local  environment.  Recip- 
rocally, their  environment  is  being  changed  by  them,  as 
they  cultivate  the  soil,  introduce  great  herds  of  domestic 
animals,  establisli  lines  of  communication,  and  exploit 
the  natural  resources  for  their  own  use  and  benefit. 

In  the  temperate  zone  of  South  America  is  a  people  sprung 
from  the  same  stocks  as  the  North  Americans,  occupying 
a  land  in  many  respects  similar  to  that  of  the  United  States. 
A  hundred  years  ago  that  people  freed  itself  from  Europe. 
During  the  succeeding  decades  it  fought  its  way  to  national 
unity.  In  the  last  thirty  years  it  has  made  great  progress 
toward  developing  the  resources  of  the  land  for  the  serv^ice 
of  mankind.  It  has  gained  independence,  has  defined  its 
domain,  has  developed  individuality.  Having  secured  high 
rank  among  the  progressive  powers  of  the  world,  the  Argen- 
tine nation  stands  on  the  threshold  of  a  great  future.  Con- 
scious of  its  strength  it  looks  confidently  forward.  Scarcely 
conscious  of  any  limitations  it  pays  little  heed  to  those  con- 
ditions of  environment  which  will  inevitably  determine  its 
character  and  prosperity,  yet  it  can  not  escape  them.  As 
Channing  said  of  individuals,  so  of  nations:  "Life  is  in- 
exorably conditioned  and  conditions  us."  And  that  na- 
tion will  go  forward  most  securely  on  the  path  of  progress 
wliich  early  takes  account  of  the  resources  and  limitations 
that  constitute  the  physical  basis  of  its  civilization. 

In  the  Old  World  the  exi)loitation  of  the  natural  resources 
went  on  for  centuries  wastefully  until  scarcity  resulted, 
and  compelled  care-taking,  renewal,  and  conservation.  In 
the  New  World  waste  also  has  been  excessive  and  still  goes 
on,  but  recently  we  have  been  roused  to  the  possibility  of 
national  poverty  in  forests,  waters,  and  soils,  and  having 
taken  an  inventory,  we  in  the  United  States  are  striving 
to  establish  the  principle  of  conservation  of  the  natural 


344  BAILEY  WILLIS 

resources  for  the  use  of  future  generations  as  well  as  for  the 
benefit  of  this  one,  in  order  that  our  nation  may  be  pros- 
perous in  the  future  as  it  is  now. 

Argentina  may  be  said  to  stand  in  national  development 
in  relation  to  the  resources  of  the  country  somewhat  in  the 
stage  which  had  been  reached  by  the  United  States  in  1S60, 
and  in  the  extension  of  railways,  the  disposition  of  her  pub- 
lic lands,  the  exploitation  of  forests,  and  the  activity  of  her 
people,  there  are  many  features  which  lemind  one  of  the 
period  of  material  progress  on  which  the  United  States 
entered  after  the  Civil  War.  The  tide  of  immigration 
rises  and  sinks  in  her  ports,  great  wealth  is  accumulating  in 
private  hands,  corporations  of  immense  resources  are  ex- 
tending their  power  over  railwaj^s  and  lands,  her  statesmen 
are  carrying  out  public  works  of  great  cost  and  proportionate 
promise  of  utility.  Yet  of  Argentina  as  the  home  of  a  na- 
tion, as  the  seat  of  a  great  world  power,  men  know  accurately 
scarcely  as  much  as  they  knew  of  the  United  States  forty 
years  ago.  Explorers'  sketches  direct  railway  extensions. 
Theie  sur\'eys  are  needed.  Guesses  are  the  starting  points  of 
reclamation  projects  that  involve  millions  of  dollars.  There 
surveys  and  long  continued  measurements  of  streams  are 
essential.  Public  lands  of  vast  extent  are  to  be  settled  for 
agriculture  or  to  be  leased  for  grazing.  There  surveys, 
investigations  of  water  and  soils,  comparative  studies  by 
trained  specialists  are  wanted.  The  Hst  of  national  enter- 
prises and  necessities  might  be  extended;  but  enough.  If 
in  sketching  the  country,  I  seem  to  speak  knowingly,  re- 
member that  I  speak  with  but  partial  knowledge.  \ 

To  outline  the  physical  basis  of  the  Ai'gentine  nation  we 
may  take  a  glance  at  the  country  itself.  The  total  area 
is  1,500,000  square  miles  or  one-half  that  of  the  continental 
United  States.  It  is  a  country  long  from  north  to  south, 
wider  in  its  northern  and  warmer  section,  and  tapering  to 
the  point  of  Cape  Horn.  If  we  place  the  map  of  South 
America  over  that  of  North  America,  so  that  the  latitudes 
of  the  southern  hemisphere  coincide  with  the  same  latitudes 
of  the  northern,  Argentina  is  seen  to  reach  from  Hudson's 


THE  PHYSICAL  BASIS  OF  THE  ARGENTINE  NATION        345 

Bay  to  Yucatan,  and  the  greater  part  of  tlie  country  falls 
in  the  zone  of  the  Gulf  of  ?^Iexico  and  the  lower  Mississippi 
Valley  between  New  Orleans  and  St.  Louis. 

By  this  comparison  we  suggest  that  there  is  an  extreme 
range  of  temperatures  comparable  with  that  between  the 
tropics  and  southern  ^Mexico  and  the  semi-arid  conditions 
of  northern  Canada,  but  this  is  not  wholly  true,  because 
the  oceans  moderate  the  temperatures  of  the  narrower  con- 
tinent, making  the  heat  less  torrid  and  the  cold  less  severe. 
Buenos  Aires  lies  in  the  latitude  of  Memphis,  Tennessee, 
'and  has  a  mean  annual  temj^erature  equivalent  to  that  of 
South  Carolina  or  Alabama.  The  curve  of  the  same  mean 
temperature — about  00  degrees  Fah. — swings  south  through 
the  Province  of  Buenos  Aires  and  westward  across  the  Ter- 
ritory of  Rio  Negro  to  the  Province  of  ^lendoza,  through 
districts  which  resemble  Texas,  Arizona,  and  the  Valley  of 
California.  Thus  we  may  say  that  the  central  region  of 
.Argentina  corresponds  closely  with  the  southern  gulf  states 
and  the  southwest.  Northward  the  temperatures  are  some- 
what higher,  and  in  the  extreme  northeast  of  Argentina  we 
find  conditions  resembling  those  of  southern  Florida  and 
the  coast  of  ^Mexico.  There  the  winter  temperature  rarely 
touches  frost,  and  the  maxunum  in  the  western  arid  region 
is  as  high  as  that  of  the  Yuma  desert. 

Turning  to  the  far  southern  portions  of  the  country,  we 
are  apt  to  think  of  severe  conditions  around  Cape  Horn, 
but  on  the  east  coast  they  are  not  so  extreme  as  is  generally 
supposed.  The  mean  annual  temperature  on  that  coast  is 
equivalent  to  that  of  the  southern  coast  of  Maine,  but 
the  minimum  is  not  lower  than  that  of  Puget  Sound, 
while  the  maximum  is  that  of  Nova  Scotia.  In  the  fiords 
west  among  the  glacier  covered  mountains  the  local  condi- 
tions are  often  far  more  rigorous  and  snow  squalls  are  com- 
mon even  in  summer.  Farther  inland  hi  the  high  plateaus 
of  southern  Patagonia,  the  cold  winds  from  the  Andes  give 
the  winter  conditions  of  northern  Texas  or  Kansiis,  while 
the  summer  temperatures  are  those  of  southern  Canada 
and  .\lberta. 

Thus  .Vrgentina.  which  reaches  from  within  the  tropics 


34G  BAILEY  WILLIS 

almost  to  the  Antarctic  Circle,  experiences  a  range  of  tem- 
peratures less  than  those  found  in  the  United  States,  and 
must  be  characterized  as  a  region  of  mild,  temperate  or  sub- 
tropical climate  throughout  the  greater  part  of  its  extent. 

Next  to  temperature,  rainfall  claims  our  attention,  be- 
cause absence  or  scarcity  of  water  determines  the  use  of 
the  lands  for  crops  or  herds,  and  the  activities  of  the  people. 
Argentina  lies  between  two  regions  of  excessive  rainfall, 
and  includes  a  margin  of  each  one.  From  across  Uruguay 
and  tropical  Brazil  blow  the  humid  trade  winds,  bringing  rain 
to  all  the  northeastern  provinces.  In  the  southwest  of  thfe 
country  the  Argentine  Andes  catch  some  of  the  heavy  rains 
with  which  the  constant  west  winds  soak  the  misty  forests  of 
southern  Chile  and  cover  with  snow  fields  the  western  ranges 
of  the  Cordillera.  Between  the  two  humid  districts  lies  a 
drier  zone  which  stretches  diagonally  across  the  continent 
from  the  south  Atlantic  coast  of  Patagonia  northwesterly 
past  IMendoza  to  the  Pacific  coast  of  northern  Chile. 

Where  the  amount  of  annual  precipitation  is  as  much  as 
500  millimeters  (20  inches  or  more)  agriculture  may  gen- 
erally be  carried  on  without  special  methods  for  preventing 
evaporation  or  supplying  water  to  the  crops,  but  where  the 
rainfall  is  less  than  20  inches,  dry  farming  or  irrigation  be- 
comes necessary.  In  Argentina  about  two-fifths  of  the  land 
has  a  rainfall  exceeding  20  inches,  whereas  the  other  three- 
fifths  have  less  than  that  amount  of  annual  precipitation. 
Here  is  a  factor  which  at  once  distinguishes  the  northeastern 
district  of  greater  rain  and  warmer  climate  from  the  western 
and  southern  districts  of  lower  rainfall  and  in  general  cool- 
er climate.  The  northeastern  comprises  all  that  portion 
of  the  country  which  borders  the  Rio  de  la  Plata  and  its  con- 
fluent streams,  the  Uruguay,  the  Paraguay,  and  the  Parana, 
and  which  extends  back  from  these  rivers  beyond  the  lim- 
its of  Argentina  and  westward  nearly  across  the  provinces 
of  Buenos  Aires  and  Sante  Fe  to  San  Luis,  Cordova,  and 
Tucuman.  The  drier  southwestern  more  extensive  region 
hicludes  the  southern  ^and  western  parts  of  the  province  of 
Buenos  Aires,  all  the  provinces  of  the  north  stretching  along 
the  foot  of  the  Andes,  and  into  the  Cordillera,  and  also  the 


THE  PHYSICAL  BASIS  OF  THE  APtGENTINE  NATION        347 

plateaus  of  Patagonia  east  of  the  Andes.     The  southwestern 
humid  zone  is  confined  to  the  Andean  belt  and  its  foothills. 

The  agricultural  products  of  the  country  vary  with  the 
conditions  of  temperature  and  rainfall  so  briefly  sketched. 
Were  farmers  of  the  United  States  transplanted  to  Argen- 
tina they  would  find  congenial  climates  and  products  to  ac- 
cord with  their  experience  at  home  in  different  sections  of 
the  country.  The  orange  grower  of  Florida  and  the  cotton 
grower  of  the  Gulf  States  would  be  at  home  in  the  north- 
eastern part,  in  Corrientes,  Entre  Rios,  Sante  Fe,  El  Chaco. 
and  Formosii.  The  corn  planter  might  till  his  fields  in  the 
northern  part  of  Buenos  Aiies  province  and  the  wheat 
farmer  in  the  central  and  southern  parts.  The  sugar  grower 
from  Louisiana  would  find  cane  and  tlie  sugar  monop- 
oly at  Tucuman.  the  orchardist  of  California  could  grow 
grapes  and  fruits  under  irrigation  in  the  valleys  at  the  foot 
of  the  Andes  about  Mendoza.  The  cattlemen  of  northern 
Texas  and  the  sheep-herder  from  Arizona  and  Wyoming 
might  duplicate  their  ranges  from  Cordova  south  to  Santa 
Cruz,  and  in  the  far  south,  in  Tierra  del  Fuego,  the  web- 
footed  Oregonian  would  find  congenial  gray  skies,  mists, 
and  rain. 

After  this  general  survey  it  is  desirable  to  distinguish  more 
clearly  the  nucleal  region  of  Argentina.  The  river  prov- 
inces that  range  along  both  sides  of  the  navigable  Parana 
and  Paraguay  on  the  north  and  east  are  Entre  Rios,  Cor- 
rientes, and  Missiones;  on  the  south  and  west  Buenos  .Vires, 
Sante  Fe,  and  the  territories  of  El  Chaco  and  Formosa. 
These  form  the  nucleus  of  the  Argentine  domain  about  which 
the  other  provinces  and  territories  are  grouped.  Here  are 
the  rich  delta  lands  and  the  pampas  favored  by  climate, 
soil,  and  facile  communication  with  the  world.  Here  will 
gather  a  dense  population  and  will  always  be  the  seat  of 
Ai-gentine  wealth  and  commerce — the  heart  of  the  .Argen- 
tine nation. 

The  tourist  landing  in  Buenos  Aires  and  proceeding  west 
or  south  over  the  l\ampas,  fails  to  see  this  river  region  which 
we  may  learn  to  know  best  by  a  trip  up  the  Parana  and 
Paraguay.     From  the  broad  muddy  estuary  of  the  Rio  de 


348 


BAILEY  \V7LLIS 


la  Plata  we  pass  into  the  channels  of  the  islands  of  the 
delta  of  the  Urugua}^  and  Parana.  Proceeding  up  either 
river  we  find  the  banks  rising  in  blufifs  of  brown  earth  to 
100  feet  on  one  hand  or  the  other,  opposite  wide  groups  of 
low  verdant  islands.  According  to  the  geographers  the 
banks  should  continue  rising  as  we  penetrate  into  the  con- 
tinent, till  the  plains  should  pass  into  hills  and  the  hills 
into  mountain  ranges,  but  we  would  need  to  travel  far  to- 
ward the  Andes  and  toward  the  Amazon  before  we  should 
reach  the  normal  aspects  of  river  valleys.  Five  hundred 
miles  above  the  delta  of  the  Paraguay  the  banks  are  lower, 
the  islands  and  swamps  more  extensive.  One  thousand 
miles  from  the  river's  mouth  we  still  see  on  either  hand  th  e 
vast  lowlands  of  the  interior  of  the  continent.  Delta-like  in 
all  its  aspects,  the  immense  basin  in  which  the  great  rivers 
gather  from  the  uplands  of  Brazil  and  Bolivia  is  in  fact  a 
delta— a  delta  in  the  heart  of  the  continent.  The  basin  is 
a  sinking  land,  the  rivers  are  filling  it  with  sediment;  it  has 
sunk  deeply  and  the  alluvium  has  accumulated  to  a  corre- 
sponding depth.  Here  are  immense  plains  now  widely 
flooded  by  the  tropical  rains,  but  a  shght  change  of  level 
would  convert  them  from  swamps  into  rich  extensive  agri- 
cultural lands. 

If  from  this  excursion  up  the  Paraguay  we  return  to  the 
Pampas  of  Buenos  Aires  with  a  knowledge  of  the  inland 
delta  lands  now  forming  on  the  upper  river,  we  may  recog- 
nize the  delta  formed  long  ago  but  now  raised  above  the 
reach  of  the  rivers  by  which  it  was  accumulated.  Beneath 
the  plains  of  the  Pampas  lies  the  immense  mass  of  alluvium 
of  ancient  rivers  that  flowed  from  the  Andes  in  earlier  epochs. 
At  Buenos  Aires  it  is  3000  feet  deep.  It  forms  the  lobe  of 
the  continent  south  of  the  Rio  de  la  Plata  and  extends  to 
distant  hills  in  the  south  in  Buenos  Aires,  and  in  the  west 
to  those  of  San  Luis  and  Cordova. 

Although  this  soil  is  alluvium  and  therefore  of  the  same 
origin  as  the  great  class  of  alluvial  soils  throughout  the 
world,  it  differs  from  those  with  which  the  farmers  of  Europe 
and  the  United  States  are  most  familiar.  Soils  like  it  are 
found  in  small  districts  on  the  Rhine  and  the  Danube,  and 


THE  PHYSICAL  BASIS  OF  THE  ARGENTINE  NATION        349 

are  more  extensive  in  the  valley  of  the  Missouri.  In  the 
great  plain  of  China,  the  Yellow  River  has  spread  a  forma- 
tion \'ery  like  that  of  the  Pampas.  The  common  condition 
which  brings  all  these  soils  in  distant  regions  into  relation 
witii  one  anotlier  is  in  their  origin  as  wind-blown  mate- 
rial. They  belong  to  the  type  wliich  has  received  the  name 
of  loess,  and  are  derived  either  from  the  wind-drifted  dust 
of  deserts  or  from  the  fine  silt  ground  beneath  glaciers. 
Their  common  characteristic  is  extreme  fineness  of  grain 
and  a  large  amount  of  undecomposed  mineral  substances. 
The  soils  of  the  Pampas  differ  from  those  of  the  other  re- 
gions named  in  that  they  contain  a  very  large  proportion 
of  volcanic  dust,  rich  in  the  essential  elements  of  plant 
food.  A  peculiarity  of  the  loess  soils  is  their  capacity  to 
store  up  water  and  to  retain  their  fertility  under  cultivation. 
The  Chinese  fields  have  been  tilled  for  more  than  4000 
years  without  exhaustion,  and  there  is  every  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  the  fields  of  the  Pampas,  under  intelligent  cul- 
ture, will  also  remain  practically  inexhaustible. 

On  the  west  and  south  of  this  nucleal  region  is  the  mar- 
ginal zone  of  the  districts  less  favored  with  rainfall  and 
therefore  more  hmited  in  agricultural  possibilities.  It  is 
here  that  water  plays  a  more  important  part  than  soil  and 
that  the  great  ii-rigation  projects  of  Argentina  will  be  de- 
\eloped  as  the  nation  grows.  IMendoza  set  the  example 
more  than  thirt}''  years  ago  and  has  become  rich  through 
her  vineyards  and  orchards.  All  along  the  foothills  of  the 
Andes  similar  conditions  exist  in  many  rich  valleys  as  far 
south  as  the  Province  of  Chubut,  the  conditions  changing, 
however,  with  the  latitude,  the  amount  of  sunshine,  and  the 
date  of  early  and  late  frosts.  The  lands  which  may  be  irri- 
gated are  so  extensive  that  they  might  use  far  more  water 
than  flows  even  from  the  snow-capped  Cordillera  and  in 
time  every  po.ssibility  for  the  storage  and  regulation  of  the 
streams  will  be  developed. 

Eastward  beyond  the  reach  of  the  Ande^m  streams,  in 
the  territories  of  central  and  southern  .Vrgontina  is  the 
great  area  of  land  which  must  always  be  de\oted  to  grazing, 
and  in  large  part  to  sheep  raising.     In  the  northern  and 


350  BAILEY  WILLIS 

drier  regions  of  Patagonia  the  fine  wooled  Merino  finds  a  con- 
genial home,  and  there  may  be  grown  the  wool  suited  to  the 
manufacture  of  fine  clothing  and  knitted  goods.  As  we  go 
south  into  the  colder  and  moister  districts  toward  the 
straits,  the  IMerino  gives  place  to  the  heavier  and  coarser 
English  breeds,  which  are  bred  rather  for  mutton  than  for 
wool,  and  there  already  are  located  the  freezing  establish- 
ments which  prepare  mutton  for  the  European  markets. 
At  the  present  time  cattle  and  sheep  herding  are  still  carried 
on  on  a  large  scale  in  the  provinces  of  Buenos  Aires  and 
Sante  Fe  as  well  as  in  Entre  Rios  and  Corrientes.  By  far 
the  larger  proportion  of  the  20,000,000  head  of  cattle  and 
the  80,000,000  sheep  of  the  republic  are  to  be  found  in  these 
territories;  but  that  condition  is  not  one  which  will  persist 
when  the  ranges  shall  be  turned  into  farms.  Where  it  is 
practicable  it  is  more  profitable  to  grow  wheat  and  corn 
than  to  grow  beef  and  mutton,  and  the  economic  advantage 
will  in  time  displace  the  less  profitable  industr3^  Then 
the  farm  lands,  which  are  now  held  in  large  tracts,  will  be  di- 
vided into  small  farms  worked  by  the  owners  themselves. 
The  conditions  of  sheep  and  cattle  raising  will  change  as 
they  have  changed  in  Iowa  and  Illinois,  and  become  sub- 
ordinate to  agriculture,  while  the  lands  which  lying  beyond 
the  great  agricultural  regions  must  always  be  devoted  to 
grazing,  will  be  enhanced  in  value  through  the  greater  de- 
mand for  their  products.  * 

Agriculture,  grazing  and  commerce  are  the  activities 
clearly  indicated  as  those  which  the  Argentine  nation  must 
develop  on  the  basis  of  the  physical  resources  of  the  coun- 
try. May  we  add  to  them  manufacturing  industries? 
Argentina  has  no  coal  and  throughout  nine-tenths  of  her 
territory  no  large  amount  of  water-power  which  can  be 
utilized  for  manufacturing.  Here  she  is  definitely  and 
narrowly  limited,  and  must  always  be  dependent  for  manu- 
factured products  upon  countries  more  fortunately  condi- 
tioned. But  she  is  not  entirely  without  resources  which  may 
be  developed  as  a  competmg  factor  to  relieve  her  of  absolute 
dependence  upon  other  nations.  There  are  two  districts 
in  which  water-power  ma}'  be  applied  to  manufacturing 


THE  PHYSK^AL  BASIS  OF  THE  ARGENTINE  NATION        351 

on  a  scale  sufficient  to  affect  the  welfare  of  the  nation. 
One  of  them  is  in  the  far  northeast  where  the  falls  of  Igu- 
azu  may  yield  twice  the  power  of  Niagara,  and  the  other  in 
the  southwest  wliere  many  streams  in  the  valleys  of  the 
Cordillera  will  afford  power  to  attract  a  manufacturing 
population  that  will  there  find  a  congenial  climate  in  a  re- 
gion of  great  beauty  and  healthfulness.  The  power  of  Igu- 
azu  is  near  the  great  centers  of  commerce,  being  situated 
on  the  Parana  and  capable  of  transmission  down  the  valley 
of  the  river  to  within  reach  of  navigable  waters.  The  falls 
are  fortunately  included  within  a  national  reservation,  and 
the  government  will  be  able  to  control  theu*  exploitation. 
The  Cordilleran  district  is  as  far  from  Buenos  Aires  as  St. 
Louis  from  New  York,  or  Rome  from  London,  and  at  pres- 
ent is  still  isolated  for  lack  of  communication;  but  rail- 
ways are  in  process  of  extension  toward  it,  and  it  will  soon 
be  brought  within  reach  of  freight  and  also  of  tourist  traf- 
fic. Three  raw  materials  of  prime  importance^ — wool, 
hides  and  wood — are  immediately  available  in  the  district 
itself  and  the  surrounding  areas,  and  there  will  eventually 
be  established  important  manufacturing  industries  to  supply 
the  great  agricultural  provinces. 

The  review  of  the  ph^'sical  conditions  which  form  the  basis 
of  development  of  the  .Vi-gentine  nation  confirms  the  gen- 
erally accepted  opinion  that  it  has  a  great  future  as  an  agri- 
cultural and  pastoral  people,  which  shall  continue  to  supply 
the  less  fortunate  countries  of  the  world  with  grain  and  meat. 
It  is  also  clear  that  the  material  resources  offer  no  other 
prospect,  and  therefore  the  prosperity  and  leisure  which 
are  essential  to  high  intellectual  development  depend  upon 
the  exploitation  and  conservation  of  the  soils  and  waters 
of  the  Argentine  domain. 

Exploitation  and  conservation  are  by  many  considered 
to  be  contradictory  temis,  exploitation  being  taken  to  mean 
exhaustive  utilization  for  immediate  profit,  and  conser- 
vation representing  the  idea  of  preservation  for  future  use. 
But  this  view  has  often  been  shown  to  be  incorrect.  Ex- 
ploitation of  natural  resources  with  due  regard  for  preven- 
tion of  waste  and   reproduction  of  crof>s  is  conservation. 


352  BAILEY  WILLIS 

Conservation  means  that  that  which  is  ripe  shall  be  used, 
whereas  that  which  is  not  ripe  shall  be  neither  used  nor 
destroyed,  but  shall  await  the  time  of  maturity.  This 
applies  to  all  things  that  grow,  to  grass  and  to  trees.  The 
things  that  do  not  grow,  such  as  soil  and  waters,  are  con- 
served in  pi-eventing  their  waste  and  promoting  their  highest 
utilization. 

From  this  point  of  \'iew  the  .Argentine  conditions  pre- 
sent certain  definite  problems  in  conser\'ation.  To  de- 
fine them  we  may  take  specific  instances.  The  forests  of 
Argentina  are  limited.  They  fall  into  two  very  distinct 
classes,  those  of  the  tropics  and  those  of  the  temperate 
Cordillera,  which  differ  not  only  in  the  kinds  of  trees  but 
also  in  their  utility.  In  the  tropics  are  various  useful  spe- 
cies, of  which  two,  the  quebracho  and  the  mat^  yerba,  are 
the  most  conspicuous.  The  quebracho  forests  have  almost 
entirely  passed  from  government  control  and  in  pri\'ate 
hands  are  rapidly  being  cut  to  make  quebracho  extract  for 
tanning.  The  mat4,  or  Paraguayan  tea,  which  takes  a 
more  important  place  in  Argentine  life  than  coffee  does 
with  us,  is  a  small  bush  from  which  the  lea\'es  may  be  picked 
as  tea  leaves  are  in  China  and  Japan,  without  injury  to  the 
plant  if  due  care  is  taken,  but  the  Yerbales  are  being  se- 
riously injured  by  wasteful  methods  of  gathering  the  leaves 
to  reduce  the  cost  and  increase  the  profit.  The  government 
is  awake  to  these  conditions  and  high  officials  are  striving 
to  correct  them,  but  it  remains  to  be  seen  whether  the 
Argentine  congress  can  pass  and  the  Argentine  executive 
enforce  laws  that  shall  protect  young  quebracho  trees  or 
insure  their  planting,  and  prevent  the  destruction  of  the 
mat6  yerba. 

In  the  Andean  forests  there  is  a  different  problem.  Most 
of  them  are  still  in  the  hands  of  the  government  and  by  the 
organization  of  an  efficient  forest  service  may  be  brought 
absolutely  under  government  control.  A  reorganization 
of  the  forest  service  is  in  progress  and  if  the  program  which 
is  now  proposed  be  adequately  supported  the  question  will 
be  solved.  At  the  present  time  protection  against  fire  is 
the  most  urgent  necessity,   since  these  forests  lie  on  the 


THE  PHYSICAL  BASIS  OF  THE  ARGENTINE  NATION        3');^ 

borders  of  Chile  within  reach  of  the  wandering  cattle  herders 
whose  long  established  habit  is  to  set  fire  to  the  forests 
in  order  to  clear  away  the  undergrowth  and  utilize  the  grass, 
which  springs  up  among  the  burnt  tree  trunks.  Tliorough 
police  control,  constant  watchfulness,  easy  communication, 
find  an  awakened  public  spii'it  are  needed  in  the  Cordillera. 
The  important  service  for  which  these  forests  should  be 
conserved  is  that  of  regulating  the  streams  which  flow  from 
the  Cordillera  across  the  eastern  semi-ai'id  region  of  central 
Argentina.  They  cover  the  mountain  ranges  where  the 
annual  precipitation  is  very  heavy  and  a  large  part  of  it 
falls  as  snow.  The  dense  growth  of  the  Andean  beeches, 
cedar,  and  bamboo  protects  the  ground  and  prevents  the 
rapid  run-ofif  in  the  streams.  Even  as  it  is  there  are  great 
floods  and  in  summer  proportional  scarcity  ofwater.  But 
if  these  forests  be  stripped  from  the  steep  slopes  of  the 
Andes  the  floods  will  be  greatl}^  aggravated  and  the  waters 
available  for  irrigation  will  be  so  diminished  that  the  valleys 
which  should  become  the  seat  of  a  dense  and  prosperous 
population  will  be  left  to  the  solitary  sheep  herder  and  his 
flocks.  This  being  the  condition  it  is  fortunate  that  the 
forests,  as  they  now  stand,  have  not  in  themselves  great 
intrinsic  commercial  value.  The  cipres,  or  cedar,  a  good 
lumber  when  well  grown,  is  not  very  abundant  nor  often 
free  from  knots  or  defects.  The  coihue,  or  Andean  beech, 
the  most  common  tree,  is  in  general  over  ripe,  as  is  apt  to 
be  the  case  in  virgin  forests,  and  a  large  proportion  of  the 
trees  are  unsound.  The  wood  is  exceedingly  heavy,  will 
not  float  in  the  streams  or  lakes,  and  is  expensive  to  trans- 
port to  market.  It  therefore  off'ers  little  temptation  to  ex- 
ploit it  commercially.  Yet  means  must  be  found  gradually 
to  replace  these  old  over-ripe  forests  with  cultivated  stands 
of  useful  lumber  varieties.  Thus  the  conservation  jjrob- 
lem  of  the  Andean  forest  comprises  three  questions:  how 
to  prevent  fires,  how  to  remove  the  natural  growth  to  the 
best  advantage  without  destroying  its  en"ectiveness  in  con- 
trolling the  waters,  and  how  to  replace  it  with  more  valu- 
able species.  These  problems  will  not  be  solved  in  one 
generation,   but   the    Argentine    administration    is    taking 


354  BAILEY  WILLIS 

steps  toward  fire  protection  and  recognizes  the  necessity  of 
forest  reserves.  In  this  direction  it  is  making  an  excellent 
beginning. 

The  conser\'ation  of  the  waters  and  their  utilization  to 
the  greatest  possible  extent  of  economic  service  is  the  most 
important  factor  among  the  natural  resources.  Lands 
suitable  for  irrigation  are  very  extensi\'e  throughout  the 
three-fifths  of  Argentina  which  must  be  described  as  semi- 
arid,  and  the  waters  available  for  irrigation  are  quite  in- 
adequate to  cover  more  than  a  small  fraction  of  the  appro- 
priate areas.  The  irrigation  problem  centers  in  the  streams 
that  flow  from  the  Andes  and  the  valleys  along  their  courses. 
The  gi'eatest  of  all,  the  Rio  Negro,  is  already  being  devel- 
oped by  the  construction  of  a  dam  on  its  northern  branch, 
the  Neuquen,  to  irrigate  lands  in  the  valley,  and  irrigation 
is  practiced  in  the  vicinity  of  Choelechoel  on  the  river. 
Studies  are  in  progress  of  the  lake  basins  in  which  the 
waters  gather  before  they  leave  the  Andes,  and  the  general 
question  of  the  complete  utilization  of  the  waters  will  be 
developed  along  the  lines  ably  outlined  several  years  ago 
by  the  Italian  engineer,  Cipoletti.  Irrigation  works  of 
more  or  less  local  importance  are  in  progress  in  various 
other  parts  of  Argentina,  partly  under  government  au- 
spices and  partly  under  contracts  between  the  government 
and  the  great  railroad  systems.  Yet  it  must  be  said  that  no 
adequate  study  of  the  great  problem  of  conservation  and 
utilization  of  the  waters  of  the  country  is  being  made.  There 
is  no  other  resource  of  equal  importance  to  Argentina,  yet 
there  is  no  organized  service  engaged  in  mapping  the  water- 
sheds and  measuring  the  rivers.  The  engineers  who  plan 
costly  public  works  are  obliged  to  proceed  upon  very  inade- 
quate guesses  of  the  volumes  of  water  which  they  may  have 
to  handle,  and  without  maps  of  the  watersheds  from  which 
the  streams  gather.  Under  these  cii'cumstances  any  irrigation 
project  is  likely  to  be  a  costly  experiment  and  there  can  be 
no  wise  selection  of  the  lands  and  waters  which  may  be  most 
economically  and  most  advantageously  developed  at  the 
present  time.  To  emphasize  this  point  I  need  but  cite  the 
experience  of  the  reclamation  service  of  the  United  States, 


THE  PHYSICAL  BASIS  OF  THE  ARGENTINE  NATION       355 

which  was  that  only  one  in  ten  of  the  projects  for  storage 
and  utilization  of  waters  for  irrigation  in  the  United  Stj,tes 
gave  such  promise  of  a  reasonable  return  upon  the  cost  of 
construction  under  government  super\'ision  that  it  could  be 
undertaken  on  the  condition  that  it  should  eventually  pay 
for  itself.  The  works  carried  out  by  that  service  are  more 
import^int  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  and  they  in- 
volve engineering  questions  as  difficult  as  those  of  the  Pana- 
ma canal.  They  ha\'e  been  based  upon  thorough  topographic 
and  hydrographic  studies  and  so  upon  definite  information 
of  the  nature  of  the  territory  and  the  conditions  of  supply 
of  the  water  in  each  case.  In  Argentina  further  progress 
in  the  development  of  her  water  resources  should  be  based 
upon  like  studies  covering  the  Andean  Cordillera  and  the 
streams  which  flow  from  it. 

One  of  the  results  of  a  survey  of  the  water  resources  of 
the  country  will  be  the  determination  of  the  available 
water  powers.  Here  in  the  United  States,  where  we  reckon 
tliat  we  shall  not  exhaust  our  coal  supplies  for  a  century 
and  a  half,  we,  nevertheless  are  anxious  that  the  nation  shall 
retain  controU  of  the  inexhaustible  power  which  the  falling 
streams  can  be  made  to  yield.  How  much  more  urgentis  that 
control  of  waterpowers  in  Argentina,  where  there  are  no 
other  sources.  The  laws  already  reserve  to  the  government 
rights  over  the  streams  and  their  banks,  but  it  is  none  too 
early  to  direct  attention  to  the  fact  that  whatever  manu- 
facturing may  develop  will  be  entirely  dependent  on  the 
water  powers  and  subject  to  the  control  of  whoever  owns 
that  power. 

In  a  country  where  lands  are  still  held  b}-  individuals 
in  enormous  tracts  and  where  cultivation  of  the  soil  has  not 
yet  displaced  the  pasturing  of  great  herds  of  cattle  and  flocks 
of  sheep,  the  question  of  soil  con.servation  has  not  pre- 
sented itself,  nor  is  it  a  question  which  will  in  the  great 
agricultural  regions  of  .Vrgcntina  sf)on  be  an  urgent  one. 
Erosion  on  the  plains  of  the  Pamjjas  is  confined  to  s(;ouring 
by  the  winds,  and  where  the  soil  Ls  deej)  does  not  inflict  much 
injury.  Some  districts  there  are,  especLili}'  in  the  south- 
we.stern  part  of  the  Province  of  Buenos  Aires  and  adjacent 


356  BAILEY  WILLIS 

regions  of  the  Pampa  Central  and  Rio  Negro,  where  there  is 
a  hard  layer  of  limestone  at  moderate  depth  below  the  sur- 
face. In  some  districts  the  depth  of  soil  is  less  than  a  foot, 
and  elsewhere  there  are  bare  surfaces  of  limestone  forming 
stony  plateaus.  These  were  once  covered  with  soil  which 
has  been  swept  from  them  by  the  wind,  and  where  the  lime- 
stone is  not  deeply  covered  the  same  result  must  follow  if 
the  surface  is  not  protected  by  vegetation.  In  these  dis- 
tricts in  botii  grazing  and  cultivation  every  precaution 
should  be  taken  to  keep  the  soil  from  blowing  away.  The 
greatest  injury  now  being  done  to  such  areas  is  due  to  over- 
grazing and  the  destruction  of  the  grass  that  holds  the  soil 
in  place. 

Grazing  being  an  industry  which  in  Argentina  takes 
rank  in  importance  with  agriculture  the  entire  nation  is 
interested  in  the  grasses  on  which  the  herds  and  flocks  pas- 
ture. Where  pri\'ate  lands  are  stocked  for  absentee  owners 
there  is  danger  that  they  may  be  overgrazed,  and  where 
squatters  pasture  their  flocks  on  public  lands  there  is  prac- 
tical certainty  that  the  grasses  will  be  severely  injured.  A 
difficult  situation  is  apt  to  arise  through  fluctuations  of  the 
rainfall  from  year  to  year.  With  the  greater  moisture  of 
wetter  years  the  number  of  sheep  carried  is  increased  to 
the  limit  of  richer  pasture  and  when  leaner  years  follow  the 
range  is  grazed  to  the  grass  roots  before  the  flocks  are  re- 
duced by  forced  sale  or  starvation.  For  these  conditions  on 
private  lands  there  is  no  remedy  save  that  of  resident  owner- 
ship and  intelligent  management.  On  public  lands  there 
is  a  reform  as  practical  as  it  would  be  profitable;  that  of 
bringing  the  public  ranges  under  a  leasing  law,  by  which 
the  irresponsible  squatters  would  be  replaced  by  responsible 
lessees.  This  is  not  the  place  to  consider  the  terms  of  such 
a  law,  further  than  to  suggest  that  Australia  has  set  a  suc- 
cessful precedent,  which  proves  that  long  term  pastoral 
leases  may  be  satisfactory  alike  to  the  government  and  the 
sheep  owners;  but  it  may  be  said  that  in  Argentina  a  first 
step  has  been  taken  this  year  in  imposing  a  tax  on  all  sheep 
and  cattle  grazing  on  public  lands.  The  owner  who  is  taxed 
will  acquire  certain  rights.     The  rights  will  be  recognized 


THE  PHYSICAL  BASIS  OF  THE  ARGENTINE  NATION        357 

by  permits,  and  under  a  plan  like  that  now  being  worked 
out  in  the  United  States  or  under  a  law  of  pastoral  leases 
on  the  Australian  plan,  the  grazing  on  public  lands  will 
come  under  government  regulation. 

Control  and  regulation  of  grazing  will  not,  Iiowever,  be 
effective  witiiout  better  knowledge  of  the  grazing  plants 
than  is  now  available.  They  have  been  collected,  classified, 
and  named.  The  number  of  speci&s  of  grasses  known  from 
Patagonia  is  very  large,  but  their  nutritive  value,  condi- 
tions of  growth  and  reproduction,  relative  abundance,  and 
other  characters  bearing  on  their  value  as  fodder  plants 
remain  unknown.  Here  is  work  for  the  botanist  who  is 
willing  to  follow  the  sheep  and  from  its  habits  learn  the  les- 
son of  conservation  in  the  arid  plateaus.  In  the  United 
States  it  has  been  shown  that  such  studies  have  practical 
value,  inasmuch  as  by  abstaining  from  grazing  certain  lands 
during  the  flowering  and  seeding  season  of  the  pasture  plants, 
the  pasture  may  be  made  richer  instead  of  poorer,  even 
though  heavily  stocked  during  the  rest  of  the  year. 

From  whatever  side  we  approach  the  problem  of  conser- 
vation in  Argentina,  we  are  met  by  the  lack  of  knowledge 
of  the  natural  resources  and  conditions  of  development. 
WTiile  it  is  true  that  South  America  has  been  known  longer 
than  North  America  it  has  been  a  shorter  time  and  less 
effectively  studied  scientifically.  The  world  is  still  ignorant 
of  facts  that  vitally  afTect  its  availability  as  the  environment 
of  new  races. 

The  Argentine  is  predominantly  a  Latin  race.  Of  four 
miUiou  immigrants  in  the  last  half  century,  three  million 
were  Spaniards  and  Italians,  and  although  many  of  these 
were  laborers  who  return  home  each  year,  they  still  consti- 
tute the  dominant  strains.  The  peoples  of  northern  Europe, 
especially  the  English  and  CJerman,  exert  a  great  influence 
in  commerce,  but  they  can  not  be  said  to  determine  the  trend 
of  racial  development.  The  native  Argentine  of  Latin 
descent  of  three  generations  or  more  in  the  country  is 
stamped  with  the  qualities  of  independence  and  self  respect 
which  mark  the  American  who  has  outgrown  the  servile 
conditions  of  the  poorer  clas.ses  in  ICurope.     Poor  he  may  be, 


358  BAILEY  WILLIS 

but  a  man  he  is,  and  conscious  of  a  man's  rights.  He  is 
enduring,  hardworking,  temperate  in  his  language,  and  ex- 
cept for  occasional  excesses,  in  his  habits.  In  him  is  the 
promise  of  a  strong  people.  MingUng  of  the  Spanish  and  In- 
dian bloods  in  the  north  has  produced  a  laborer  who  is 
sought  for  his  strength  and  endurance  in  the  tropics,  though 
he  is  quick  to  resent  arbitrary  control.  In  the  southwest 
the  Indian  blood  is  of  that  indomitable  race,  the  Auraca- 
nians,  who  resisted  the  Spanish  soldier  for  centuries,  and  in 
Chile  have  won  recognition  as  an  important  and  valued 
element  of  the  Chilean  people. 

Between  the  Argentines  of  the  poorer  class  and  the  class 
that  by  virtue  of  intelligence,  ability,  education,  and  wealth 
rule  the  country,  is  a  great  gulf,  to  be  filled  in  the  future 
by  the  agricultural  population  that  will  occupy  the  immense 
estates  now  held  by  a  relatively  small  number  of  great  fami- 
lies. In  the  evolution  of  the  people,  the  selection  of  that 
farming  class  is  of  the  highest  importance  to  the  quality 
of  the  future  race.  The  conditions  are  not  now  favorable 
for  immigration  is  unrestricted,  selection  is  not  thought  of. 
Neither  is  the  number  of  smaller  farms  growing  rapidly,  for 
lands  are  expensive  and  their  subdivision  proceeds  slowly. 
But  there  are  forces  working  inevitably  toward  changes 
which  in  another  generation  will  strengthen  Argentina  by 
establishing  the  prosperous  middle  class  of  citizens  she  now 
lacks. 

Among  the  leaders  of  the  nation  stand  the  heads  of  those 
families  who  won  their  right  to  leadership  in  the  long  war- 
fare for  independence  and  national  unity.  That  struggle 
ended  when  Mitre  and  Roca  mutually  relinquished  their 
opposing  aspirations  to  the  presidency  and  placed  the  wel- 
fare of  their  country  above  party  service  and  ambition. 
The  generation  which  was  then  in  its  boyhood  now  governs 
and  grapples  with  the  problems  of  national  develop  nent 
that  have  assumed  stupendous  proportions.  I  do  not  refer 
to  the  political  questions  that  divide  conservatives  and  radi- 
cals of  various  degrees,  but  rather  to  those  which  relate  to  the 
development  of  the  national  domain  by  national  or  by  pri- 
vate enterprise.   Here  we  touch  the  conditions  that  will  affect 


THE  PHYSICAL  BASIS  OF  THE  ARGENTINE  NATION        359 

the  destinies  of  Argentina  long  after  the  factional  strife 
of  the  hour  is  forgotten.  There  are  in  the  counsels  of  the 
government  far-sighted  statesmen  who  are  striving  with 
intense  devotion  to  meet  the  issues  of  the  hour  in  the  way 
that  shall  guard  and  promote  the  future  greatness  of  the 
nation.  Their  difficult  task  is  rendered  more  difficult  still 
by  conditions  incident  to  the  development  of  the  young 
nation.  The  lack  of  knowledge  of  the  country  and  its  re- 
sources is  one.  Another  is  the  lack  of  trained  investigators 
of  Argentine  nationality,  which  is  due  not  to  want  of  ability 
but  to  disinclination  of  the  able  young  men  to  enter  on  scien- 
tific careers,  other  than  that  of  medicine.  In  the  latter  as 
in  law  they  have  demonstrated  brilliant  ability.  It  is  to 
be  hoped  that  they  will  soon  prove  themselves  equally  com- 
petent in  engineering  and  the  natural  sciences.  Argentina 
needs  them. 


THE  ADAPTABILITY  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN  TO 
TROPICAL  AMERICA 

By  Ellsworth  Huntington,  Ph.D.,  Assistant  Professor  of 
Geography,   Yale  University 

The  tropical  portions~orAmerica  and  Africa,  as  every  one 
knows,  are  the  richest  unexploited  regions  in  the  world.     If 
ever  they  are  to  be  developed  the  work  must  apparently  be 
done  by  people  of  European  origin,  for  the  native  races 
seem  incapable  of  doing  it  alone,  and  Europe  and  America 
are  scarcely  willing  to  leave  the  task  to  Asiatics.     Yet  in 
spite  of  innumerable  attempts  during  the  past  four  hundred 
years  the  problem  of  the  adaptation  of  the  white  races  to 
a  tropical  environment  still  remains  one  of  the  most  serious 
that  has  ever  confronted  mankind.     Shall  the  white  man 
forever  be  an  outsider,  a  mere  exploiter,  or  shall  he  become 
a  permanent  denizen  of  the  regions  which  he  develops?    This 
question  has  been  debated  so  often  and  so  vainly  that  the 
present  discussion  would  scarcely  be  warranted,  were  it  not 
for  two  reasons.     In  the  first  place,  certain  phases  of  the 
subject  do  not  seem  to  have  received  due  attention;  and, 
in  the  second  place,  recent  investigations  suggest  a  new 
way  whereby  at  least  a  part  of  the  truth  may  be  discovered. 
The  question  to  be  solved  is  briefly  this:  Modern  medical 
science  is  rapidly  enabling  the  white  man  to  combat  the 
diseases  which  have  been  so  deadly  in  tropical  regions.     In 
other  ways,  also,  we  are  learning  to  overcome  the  disad- 
vantages of  a  tropical  environment.     Does   this  give  us 
ground  for  believing  that  races  of  European  origin  can  dwell 
permanently  within  the  tropics  and  retain  not  only  their 
health,  but  the  physical  energy  and  mental  and  moral  vigor 
which  have  enabled  them  to  dominate  the  world?     The 
success  which  has  thus  far  been  attained  in  this  attempt  can 
scarcely  be  considered  encouraging,  but  is  that  any  reason 
for  discouragement  in  the  future? 

360 


THE   T^^IITE    MAX   AND    TROPICAL    AMERICA  361 

In  order  to  make  our  discussion  concrete,  let  us  limit  it 
to  South  and  Central  America,  and  to  that  portion  which 
lies  within  twenty  degrees  of  the  equator.     By  taking  this 
latitude  as  a  boundary  we  exclude  Rio  de  Janeiro  and  the 
southern  part  of  Brazil,  where  most  of  the  strength  of  that 
country  lies,  although  far  tlie  greater  portion  of  the  actual 
area  lies  within  our  boundaries.     We  may  also  exclude  the 
City  of  Mexico,  although  it  lies  slightly  less  than  20°  from 
the  equator.    This  leaves  southern  Mexico,  Central  America, 
Columbia,  Venezuela,  Guiana,  Ecuador,  Peru,  Bolivia,  and 
all  except  the  most  progressive  part  of  Brazil.     These  coun- 
tries have  an  area  of  nearly  5,000,000  square  miles,  or  fully 
one  and  one-half  times  as  much  as  the  United  States.     The 
population  is  estimated  at  only  35,000,000  or  40,000,000. 
In  this  vast  area  the  number  of  genuine  white  men,  that  is, 
people  of  pure  European  race,  is  only  a  few  million,  and 
most  of  these  are  confined  to  the  seacoast,  or  to  relatively 
small  areas  among  the  mountains.     An  area  of  4,000,000 
square  miles  is  today  practically  untouched  by  the  white 
man,  except  when  he  comes  temporarily  in  the  character 
of  an  exploiter,  or  as  an  official  of  one  of  the  South  American 
republics.     Nowhere  else  in  the  world  does  there  appear  to 
be  so  vast  an  area  which  at  the  same  time  contains  so  few 
people,  and  has  such  enormous  latent  wealth.     It  is  no 
wonder  that  travelers  grow  enthusiastic  over  it,  and  that 
those  who  believe  that  through  the  elimination  of  disease 
the  white  man  will  be  enabled  to  live  here,  are  convinced 
that  a  wonderful  future  is  in  store  for  it.     This  is  probably 
true,   but   before   these  countries  can  rival   those  of  tem- 
perate regions  we  must  know  vastly  more  than  is  now  the 
case  as  to  how  man  is  influenced  by  his  environment.     Today 
the  most  advanced  regions  within  the  limits  here  defined 
are  typified  by  southern  Mexico,  with   its  happy-go-lucky 
peasants  and  banditti  ;(Juatemala,  with  its  unchanging, stolid 
Indians,  who  literally  will  not  work  so  long  as  they  have 
anything  to  eat;  Nicaragua  and  Honduras,  with  their  con- 
stant revolutions;  Ecuador,  with  it-s  callous  indifference  to 
the  direst  plagues  in  its  own  ports,  and  Peru,  where  in  spite 
of  the  culture  of  the  small  number  of  Spani.sh  inhabitants, 


362  ELLSWORTH   HUNTINGTON 

the  vast  majority  are  utterly  illiterate.  We  are  apt  to 
blame  the  people  of  these  tropical  countries  for  their  back- 
ward condition,  but  in  that  we  sadly  wrong  them.  They 
are  not  backward  because  they  want  to  be  so,  and  they 
would  gladly  make  progress  if  they  could.  Something  holds 
them  back  against  their  will,  and  we  who  have  the  good 
fortune  not  to  be  thus  held  back  can  do  no  greater  service 
either  to  ourselves  or  to  them  than  to  discover  exactly  what 
that  something  is.  In  order  to  do  this,  the  first  requisite 
is  a  clear  understanding  of  our  problem.  Therefore  it  will 
be  well  to  review  some  of  the  conditions  which  for  ages 
have  acted  as  handicaps  to  every  race  whose  lot  has  been 
cast  in  tropical  America.  Let  us  first  consider  the  effect  of 
these  conditions  upon  primitive  people,  and  then  see  how 
far  there  is  a  reasonable  prospect  that  the  white  man  can 
overcome  them.  Some  of  the  conditions  which  we  shall 
consider  are  familiar,  and  have  been  much  discussed,  but 
others  have  received  relatively  little  attention. 

To  begin  with  one  of  the  most  familiar  topics,  the  ease 
with  which  a  living  can  be  made  is  constantly  cited  as  one 
of  the  reasons  for  the  backwardness  of  tropical  people.  The 
importance  of  this  among  lower  races  can  scarcely  be  ques- 
tioned. If  the  traditional  palm-tree  will  support  a  family, 
the  members  of  that  family  are  not  likely  to  work,  except 
under  some  unusual  impulse.  The  necessity  to  provide  for 
a  cold  winter,  or  for  a  long  dry  season,  does  not  trouble 
them.  Clothing  may  be  desirable  because  it  is  the  fashion, 
and  because  it  serves  as  a  means  of  adornment,  but  it  is 
not  a  real  necessity.  A  warm  house  is  equally  unnecessary, 
and  a  shelter  from  the  rain  can  quickly  be  made  with  a 
few  poles  and  palm  leaves.  Where  such  conditions  prevail, 
progress  is  almost  out  of  the  question,  since  there  is  no 
stimulus — nothing  to  promote  ambition  or  energy.  In  Cen- 
tral and  South  America,  however,  this  most  exploited  hin- 
drance of  equatorial  countries  seems  to  be  of  relatively  smaU 
importance.  In  certain  regions,  to  be  sure,  the  means  of 
supporting  life  can  be  obtained  with  great  ease,  but  this  is 
limited  to  restricted  areas,  chiefly  near  the  coast,  or  on  the 
slopes  of  the  mountains.    Elsewhere,  which  means  in  by 


THE   ^-HITE    MAN   AND   TROPICAL   AMERICA  303 

far  the  larger  part  of  tropical  America,  the  case  is  quite 
diflerent.  Although  a  small  number  of  people  can  support 
a  precarious  existence  in  j)riinitive  fashion,  their  lot  is  by 
no  means  easy,  and  the  population  cannot  become  dense, 
nor  can  it  greatly  advance  in  civilization,  because  as  yet  no 
means  have  been  devised  whereby  a  large  number  of  people 
can  procure  a  living. 

This  is  due  to  the  conditions  of  agriculture.  The  ease, 
or  rather  the  didiculty,  with  which  agriculture  can  be  carried 
on  in  tropical  countries  is  greatly  misunderstood.  The  ordi- 
nary traveler  sees  the  luxuriant  vegetation  and  infers  that 
crops  can  be  raised  with  great  ease.  Noting,  however,  that 
in  the  few  places  where  fields  are  cultivated  they  are  usually 
full  of  stumps,  bushes  and  large  weeds,  he  promptly  accuses 
the  natives  of  shiftlessness.  He  sees  too  that  a  field  is  cul- 
tivated this  year  and  abandoned  next,  and  proceeds  to  berate 
the  natives  for  lack  of  persistence.  He  fails  to  reahze  that 
throughout  large  portions  of  tropical  America  agriculture 
is  so  difficult  that  even  the  white  man  has  not  yet  learned 
to  carry  it  on.  He  may  raise  bananas  and  coff"ee  in  a  few 
limited  areas,  but  he  does  not  do  this  in  the  worst  places. 
Moreover  these  crops  are  much  easier  to  raise  than  are  the 
staple  crops  which  have  to  be  planted  every  year.  I  do 
not  mean  by  this  that  he  could  not  raise  the  staple  crops, 
provided  fevers  did  not  exclude  him  from  large  areas,  but 
merely  that  he  has  not  yet  done  it.  In  the  regions  to  which 
I  refer,  that  is,  such  places  as  large  portions  of  the  Amazon 
Basin,  rain  falls  at  almost  all  times  of  the  year,  and  the 
dry  season  is  so  short,  or  at  least  so  interrupted  by  showers 
that  the  forests  always  remain  damp,  and  vegetation  grows 
with  extraordinary  luxuriance.  Any  one  who  has  tried  to 
keep  a  garden  free  from  weeds  during  a  rainy  summer  will 
appreciate  the  difficulty,  but  his  task  is  incomparably  easier 
than  that  of  the  denizens  of  the  tropics,  for  he  has  the 
winter  to  help  him.  Moreover  he  can  cultivate  his  land 
every  year  instead  of  intermittently. 

As  an  example  of  the  difficulties  of  agriculture,  let  us  take 
the  Pacific  slope  of  Guatemala,  which  is  by  no  means  the 
wettest  part  of  the  country.     I   traversed  the  region  in 


364  ELLSWORTH   HUNTINGTON 

March,  1913,  in  the  middle  of  the  dry  season.  The  people 
had  recently  finished  the  work  of  making  the  season's  clear- 
ings. The  traveler  in  such  a  region  wonders  at  first  why 
everyone  seems  to  be  clearing  new  fields.  The  reasonable 
thing  would  seem  to  be  to  burn  the  corn  stalks  and  weeds, 
and  cultivate  the  old  fields  again,  but  this  is  not  done.  After 
a  field  has  once  been  cultivated  it  is  allowed  to  lie  fallow  for 
four  years.  The  first  crop  is  abundant  and  requires  a  rela- 
tively small  amount  of  labor,  but  if  the  same  field  is  planted 
a  second  time,  the  crop  is  very  scanty.  Apparently  the 
soil  is  quickly  exhausted,  perhaps  because  of  rapid  weathering 
under  the  influence  of  constant  heat,  and  rapid  leaching 
because  of  constant  moisture,  or  perhaps  because  of  certain 
bacteria  which  flourish  in  tropical  climates  and  break  up 
the  nitrogenous  elements  of  the  soil  thus  destroying  their 
value  as  plant-food.  Plowing  might  perhaps  help  matters, 
but  it  is  very  difficult — far  more  so  than  in  temperate 
regions.  In  the  first  place,  when  a  field  is  newly  cleared 
the  roots  and  stumps  prevent  plowing.  If  the  field  is  left 
until  the  stumps  have  rotted,  new  plants  grow  up  to  such 
an  extent  that  a  fresh  clearing  is  necessary,  and  the  process 
of  plowing  is  still  very  difficult.  At  the  end  of  the  first 
year  after  an  ordinary  field  has  been  sown,  plowing  is  out 
of  the  question  except  where  the  most  advanced  methods 
are  available,  and  it  is  of  no  use  to  burn  the  fields  over  and 
plant  a  new  crop,  for  the  return  will  not  justify  the  labor. 
Hence,  after  one  cultivation,  fields  must  be  allowed  to  lie 
fallow  for  about  four  years.  During  this  period  the  bushes 
grow  to  a  height  of  ten  to  twenty  feet,  according  to  the 
amount  of  rainfall,  and  the  ground  recovers  its  vitality. 
Then  the  bushes  are  again  cut  and  allowed  to  dry,  and  when 
the  land  has  been  burned  off  a  good  crop  may  be  raised. 
Evidently  the  clearing  and  burning  of  the  bushes  are  essen- 
tial parts  of  agriculture.  If  the  dry  season  is  long,  this 
process  is  easy,  for  three  weeks  of  steady  sun  suffice  to  dry 
all  but  the  larger  trunks  sufficiently  so  that  they  can  be 
burned.  If  showers  fall  every  day  or  two,  however,  the 
trees  and  bushes  have  little  chance  to  dry.  This  happened 
in  1913  in  Guatemala,  and  I  saw  many  fields  where  the 


THE   WHITE    MAN   AND   TROPICAL   AMERICA  305 

vegetation  had  been  cut  but  could  not  be  burned.  After 
the  dry  season  was  over,  it  was  useless  to  attempt  to  burn 
the  brush,  for  even  if  it  had  been  dry  enough  the  new  vege- 
tation, wliich  had  instantly  sprung  up,  was  sufficient  to  pre- 
vent burning,  \^'ithout  burning,  it  would  have  been  use- 
less to  plant  corn,  for  the  native  vegetation  would  have 
strangled  it.  Hence  in  many  cases  the  people  raised  no 
corn  crop  that  year. 

Conditions  of  this  sort  prevail  not  only  in  large  parts  of 
Central  America,  especially  on  the  east  side,  but  through- 
out much  of  the  Amazon  Basin.  Just  how  large  the  area 
is,  it  is  impossible  to  say,  but  probably  2,000,000  or  more 
square  miles  is  no  exaggeration.  In  all  this  region,  then. 
it  has  hitherto  been  practically  out  of  the  question  to  clear 
the  forest  and  get  it  dry  enough  to  burn.  Hence  agricul- 
ture has  been  impossible,  and  will  remain  so  until  the  white 
man  introduces  wholly  new  methods.  This  he  will  doubt- 
less do,  but  the  task  will  not  be  easy.  I  would  emphasize 
once  more  that  although  the  white  man  has  shown  himself 
able  to  raise  bananas  and  coffee  on  the  borders  of  the  moist 
tropical  areas  he  has  not  done  so  in  the  worst  portions. 
Moreover,  he  has  devoted  himself  to  special  crops  which 
yield  a  large  return  in  proportion  to  the  labor,  and  which 
do  not  have  to  be  planted  every  year.  They  will  always 
be  important  as  luxuries,  or  ev-^en  necessities,  in  northern 
countries,  but  they  cannot  be  the  primary  food  crops  of  a 
dense  population.  The  primary  crops,  for  the  most  part, 
must  be  planted  each  year,  and  this  involves  the  plowing  of 
the  land,  or  else  the  cutting  and  burning  of  the  bushes  in 
order  to  give  the  seeds  a  chance.  This  can  of  course  be 
done  if  suflicient  effort  is  expended,  but  the  fact  remains 
that  throughout  a  large  part  of  tropical  South  America  the 
task  is  so  difficult  that  neither  the  white  man  during  the 
past  four  hundred  years,  nor  the  native  races  during  thou- 
sands of  years,  ever  seem  to  have  accomi)lished  it  in  such 
places  as  the  great  Amazon  Basin. 

Before  passing  on  to  more  important  matters  mention 
should  be  made  of  another  factor  which  prevents  people 
from  living  permanently  in  certain  portions  of  the  tropics 


366  ELLSWORTH   HUNTINGTON 

and  from  developing  a  high  civiUzation.  The  difficulty  in  this 
case  arises  from  the  unequal  distribution  of  the  rainfall  dur- 
ing the  various  seasons  of  the  year.  For  instance,  portions 
of  the  vast  grassy  plains,  or  Llanos,  of  the  Orinoco  ^''alley 
are  almost  impassable  at  certain  seasons,  because  they  are 
flooded  by  the  heavy  equatorial  rains.  Yet,  during  the  long 
dry  season,  which  here  prevails  during  our  winter  months, 
those  same  plains  become  so  dry  that  in  many  places  it  is 
impossible  to  get  water  except  by  digging  deep  wells.  The 
difficulties  which  here  confront  agriculture  are  so  great  that 
the  native  races  have  never  succeeded  in  surmounting  them. 
In  fact  before  the  introduction  of  cattle,  agriculture  was 
quite  impossible  for  another  and  wholly  different  reason. 
There  was  no  means  of  breaking  up  the  sod,  which  is  an 
essential  prerequisite,  if  crops  are  to  be  raised.  Even  the 
white  man  has  found  agriculture  so  difficult  that  he  has 
rarely  attempted  it,  and  has  utilized  the  plains  only  for 
cattle  raising.  This  also  is  beset  with  many  difficulties, 
because  of  the  superfluous  supply  of  water  and  mud  at  some 
seasons,  and  the  drought  at  others.  In  still  other  regions, 
although  a  fairly  dense  growth  of  jungle  covers  the  ground, 
the  water  supply  presents  a  serious  difficulty,  for  during  the 
long  dry  season  most  of  the  springs  disappear;  hence  deep 
wells  are  necessary  and  these  are  a  diflScult  matter  for  prim- 
itive people,  not  well  equipped  with  iron  tools.  This,  it  is 
true,  has  little  direct  influence  upon  the  white  man,  but 
indirectly,  as  we  shall  soon  see,  it  adds  its  quota  to  his 
diflSculties. 

The  fact  that  in  large  portions  of  tropical  America  it  has 
thus  far  been  impossible  for  any  large  number  of  people  to 
obtain  a  living  has  most  important  consequences  in  more 
favored  regions.  Among  the  factors  which  most  promote 
progress,  the  intercourse  of  race  with  race  holds  a  highly 
important  place.  Even  the  most  active  and  energetic  com- 
munity is  likely  to  stagnate  if  left  to  itself.  In  tropical 
regions  the  conditions  which  have  just  been  described  render 
intercourse  peculiarly  difficult.  Where  vast  areas  are  unin- 
habited because  of  dense  forests  and  the  consequent  diffi- 
culty of  agriculture,  and  others  because  of  floods  and  excess 


THE   WHITE    MAN   AND   TROPICAL   AMERICA  307 

of  water  on  the  one  hand,  or  the  long  dry  j)eriod  on  the 
other  hand,  it  is  clear  that  the  places  where  people  can  live 
are  likely  to  be  very  much  scattered.  The  dense  forest  is 
almost  impassable.  It  is  usually  the  haunt  of  dangerous 
wild  beasts,  and  it  i)resents  a  barrier  (}uite  as  effective  as 
lofty  mountains  or  sandy  deserts.  The  swamps  and  mud 
due  to  excessive  floods  are  not  quite  such  serious  barriers, 
since  they  disappear  during  the  dry  season.  Even  then, 
however,  difliculties  arise,  for  ,the  distance  from  water  to 
water  is  often  great,  and  there  are  no  villages  where  food 
and  shelter  can  be  obtained.  Thus  intercourse  is  hindered 
not  only  by  mountains,  seas  and  the  ordinary  obstacles 
which  play  a  part  in  the  temperate  zones,  but  by  other  and 
even  more  efficient  obstacles.  Hence  the  primitive  inhab- 
itants of  tropical  America  have  had  little  intercourse  with 
one  another,  and  have  not  had  the  advantage  of  the  con- 
stant stimulus  derived  from  contact  with  new  ideas  and 
habits.  This  would  seem  to  be  one  of  the  important  rea- 
sons why  the  people  of  the  tropics  have  remained  backward. 
Even  today  it  is  producing  important  results.  Wherever 
white  men  have  settled  in  tropical  America  they  are  iso- 
lated. Peru,  for  instance,  has  little  communication  with 
the  rest  of  the  world;  the  same  is  true  of  Ecuador  and  Co- 
lumbia, and,  to  a  less  extent,  of  Venezuela.  This  is  partly 
due  to  their  mountains,  but  far  more  to  the  fact  that  the 
great  plains  to  the  east  of  them  are  even  now  practically 
impassable.  If  the  plains  of  the  Amazon  Basin  were  as 
easily  crossed,  and  as  densely  inhabited  as  the  plains  of 
Illinois  and  Iowa,  Peru  would  be  almost  as  much  in  touch 
with  the  rest  of  the  world  as  is  California. 

Thus  far  we  have  spoken  of  some  of  the  handicaps  which 
apply  to  primitive  people,  but  which  can  ultimately  be  over- 
come by  energetic  races  of  northern  origin.  There  is  one 
way,  however,  in  which  for  a  long  time  to  come  these  con- 
ditions will  act  as  a  handicap  even  to  the  Northerners. 
Partly  because  of  them,  and  partly  for  other  reasons,  the 
native  inhabitants  of  Central  and  South  America,  that  is, 
the  Indians,  are  very  backward.  They  are  dull  of  mind 
and  slow  to  adopt  new  ideas.     Perhaps  in  the  future  they 


368  ELLSWORTH   HUNTINGTON 

will  change,  but  the  fact  that  they  have  been  influenced 
so  little  by  four  hundred  years  of  contact  with  the  white 
man  does  not  afford  much  ground  for  hope.  Judging  from 
the  past,  there  is  no  reason  to  think  that  their  character  is 
hkely  to  change  for  many  generations.  Until  that  time 
comes  they  will  be  one  of  the  white  man's  greatest  obstacles. 
Experience  in  all  parts  of  the  world  shows  that  the  presence 
of  an  inferior  race  in  large  numbers  tends  constantly  to 
lower  the  standards  of  the  dominant  race.  This  can  scarcely 
be  emphasized  too  strongly.  Here  in  America  we  know  to 
our  cost  that  the  presence  of  the  negro,  even  though  he  forms 
only  a  ninth  part  of  the  population,  is  one  of  our  gravest 
problems.  If  he  could  be  eliminated  from  the  southern 
states,  their  future  would  be  much  brighter  than  is  now  the 
case.  Yet  they  are  not  so  great  a  handicap,  apparently,  as 
the  native  races  of  Central  and  South  America.  Whatever 
the  negro  may  have  been  when  he  was  first  brought  to 
America,  he  is  certainly  now  far  less  stolid  and  indifferent, 
far  more  subject  to  stimulating  influences  than  the  Indians 
of  tropical  America.  It  is  literally  true  in  Guatemala,  for 
instance,  that  the  more  an  Indian  is  paid  the  less  he  will 
work.  If  one  day's  pay  will  buy  two  day's  food,  he  will 
work  half  the  time,  if  the  pay  is  increased  so  that  one  day's 
pay  will  buy  food  for  three  days,  he  will  work  one-third  of 
the  time.  The  experiment  has  been  tried  again  and  again, 
and  there  is  practically  universal  agreement  as  to  its  result. 
The  most  considerate  employers  of  tropical  labor  agree  with 
the  most  inconsiderate  in  saying  that  in  general  it  is  useless 
to  attempt  to  spur  the  Indians  by  any  motive  beyond  the 
actual  demands  of  food  and  shelter.  Kindness  and  consid- 
eration on  the  part  of  the  employer  undoubtedly  promote 
faithfulness,  but  they  seem  rarely  to  arouse  ambition  or 
energy.  With  the  negro,  as  everyone  knows,  somewhat  the 
same  condition  prevails,  but  by  no  means  to  so  great  an 
extent.  In  Central  America,  for  example,  it  is  generally 
thought  that  a  negro  from  Jamaica  is  somewhat  more  effi- 
cient than  an  Indian,  while  a  negro  from  the  United  States 
is  much  more  efficient.  The  negro  in  the  United  States  is 
generally  considered  to  be  more  efficient  than  he  was  in 


THE   WHITE    MAN   AND    TROPICAL    AMERICA  300 

Africa,  whereas  the  Indian  of  tropical  America,  staying  in 
his  old  environment,  does  not  seem  to  have  changed.  Doubt- 
less the  change  in  the  negro  is  due  to  a  new  social  environ- 
ment quite  as  much  as  to  a  new  physical  environment,  and 
many  authorities  believe  that  the  change  in  social  environ- 
ment is  vastly  the  more  important  of  the  two.  This,  how- 
ever, does  not  materially  alter  the  case.  As  conditions  are 
now,  it  is  manifestly  impossible  to  change  the  physical 
environment  of  the  Indians  so  long  as  they  remain  in  their 
present  habitat,  and  it  seems  to  be  extremely  difficult,  also, 
to  change  their  social  environment.  Those  who  dwell  per- 
manently in  the  white  man's  cities  are  influenced  somewhat, 
hut  here  as  in  other  cases,  the  general  tendency  seems  to 
be  to  revert  to  the  original  condition  as  soon  as  the  special 
impetus  of  immediate  contact  with  the  white  man  is  re- 
moved. I  think  we  may  fairly  say  that  this  has  been  the 
case  almost  everj'^vhere  within  twenty  degrees  of  the  equa- 
tor. Here  again  I  would  not  be  understood  as  saying  that 
it  will  necessarily  continue  thus,  but  merely  that  the  process 
of  change  is  bound  to  be  very  slow.  The  aborigines  show 
no  sign  of  disappearing,  or  of  being  swallowed  up  by  a  multi- 
tude of  immigrants,  as  has  been  the  case  in  temperate  lati- 
tudes. On  the  contrary  there  appears  to  be  a  general  im- 
pression that  in  the  equatorial  countries  of  Latin  America 
the  proportion  of  Indian  blood  is  increasing  at  the  expense 
of  the  pure  white.  This  is  because  the  white  man,  except 
perhaps  in  a  few  favored  places,  suff"ers  from  tropical  diseases 
far  more  than  does  the  native,  and  unless  he  is  wise  enough 
to  adopt  the  latest  discoveries  of  medical  science  his  chil- 
dren die  or  grow  up  weak.  It  is  notoriously  true  that  in 
India  there  is  almost  no  such  thing  as  a  fourth  generation 
of  Indian-born  British.  The  original  stock  is  so  weakened 
by  tropical  conditions  that  the  children  nmst  either  be  sent 
back  to  Europe  to  recover  their  health,  or  else  they  become 
enfeebled  and  their  descendants  soon  die  out.  Even  with 
the  help  of  modern  medical  science,  it  is  far  from  certain 
that  the  number  of  pennanent  white  inhabitants  of  the 
tropics  can  increase  greatly,  and  there  is  reason  to  think 
that  that  same  medical  science  may  do  much  to  prevent 


370 


ELLSWORTH   HUNTINGTON 


the  death  of  children  among  the  natives,  and  may  thus 
gradually  increase  their  numbers.  Such  an  increase  of  the 
natives  has  already  occun-ed  in  India,  not  so  much  because 
of  the  conquering  of  diseases,  as  because  of  the  prevention 
of  famine.  —^""^ 

If  the  conclusion  just  reached  is  correct,  we  seem  to  be 
justified  in  the  further  conclusion  that  for  a  long  time  to 
come  tropical  America  will  contain  a  dull,  unprogressive 
Indian  population.  The  presence  of  such  a  population  will 
constantly  expose  the  white  man  to  a  most  deteriorating 
influence.  For  example,  the  inferior  mental  ability  of  the 
lower  race,  and  its  incapacity  for  effective  organization  is 
almost  sure  to  lead  to  the  abuse  of  its  labor  and  to  its 
exploitation  in  some  form  of  peonage,  even  though  the  fact 
may  be  disguised  by  legal  phraseology.  Again,  the  presence 
of  a  despised  race,  which  cannot  easily  retaliate  when  im- 
posed upon,  is  almost  certain  to  lead  to  low  sexual  morality. 
In  the  same  wsiy,  political  equality  is  almost  certain  to  become 
a  mere  form  of  speech,  for  the  dominant  race  will  not  per- 
mit the  other  to  gain  rights  at  its  expense.  Manual  labor, 
too,  will  be  despised,  for  it  will  be  associated  with  the  idea 
of  an  inferior  race.  All  these  things  may  be  looked  upon  as 
disadvantages  of  the  lower  race  rather  than  of  the  higher, 
but  I  believe  that  the  higher  race  reaps  by  far  the  greater 
injury.  The  conditions  which  have  just  been  mentioned 
appear  to  be  among  the  most  potent  factors  in  rendering  it 
difficult  for  the  white  man  to  attain  as  much  success  in 
tropical  regions  as  in  those  farther  to  the  north  or  south. 
Their  evil  effect  is  roughly  proportional  to  the  difference 
between  the  two  races.  That  difference  is  at  a  maximum 
where  a  low  tropical  race  remains  in  its  original,  unstimu- 
lating  environment,  and  is  brought  in  contact  with  immi- 
grants of  a  highly  developed  race  who  completely  change 
their  environment.  The  newcomers  are  released  from  old 
restraints  at  the  time  when  they  come  into  contact  with 
conditions  which  make  a  peculiar  demand  for  exactly  those 
restraints.  Hence,  instead  of  being  stimulated  to  greater 
political  freedom  and  equality,  sterner  morality,  and  more 
intense  industry,  as  was  the  case  among  the  settlers  in  New 


THE   WHITE   MAN   AND   TROPICAL   AMERICA  371 

England,  the  immigrants  who  come  from  the  Xorth  to  tropi- 
cal America  are  in  danger  of  being  weakened  in  all  of  these 
respects.  The  effect  on  the  original  immigrants  is  I)ad 
enough,  but  on  their  children  it  is  far  worse.  The  settler, 
or  European  colonist,  possessed  of  wealth  and  power,  can 
to  a  slight  degree  shield  his  children  from  the  deteriorating 
influence  of  the  nativ-es,  but  even  in  such  cases  children  are 
in  constant  contact  with  servants.  They  grow  up  with  a 
supreme  contempt  for  the  natives,  and  at  the  same  time  with 
the  feeling  that  they  can  treat  them  as  they  choose.  If 
poorer  people,  that  is,  colonists  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the 
word,  attempt  to  live  in  the  tropics  in  large  numbers,  espe- 
cially if  they  are  people  who  work  with  their  hands,  their 
children  are  exposed  still  more  to  all  the  contaminating 
influences  of  contact  with  the  natives.  Hence  the  second 
and  third  generations,  and  the  fourth  and  fifth,  if  there  are 
any,  suffer  more  than  their  ancestors. 

Thus  far  we  have  been  dealing  with  external  handicaps; 
that  is,  with  those  which  may  have  an  important  effect 
upon  the  white  man,  but  which  are  outside  him.  Let 
us  turn  now  to  others  which  touch  him  more  vitally.  The 
first  of  these  is  tropical  diseases.  This  subject  has  been  so 
much  discussed  that  1  shall  here  refer  to  it  only  briefly. 
There  can  be  little  doubt  that  malaria,  and  the  many  other 
diseases  which  are  characteristic  of  tropical  countries,  have 
much  to  do  with  the  low  state  of  civilization  in  those  regions. 
The  old  idea  that  the  people  who  live  in  tropical  regions 
are  imnmne  to  local  diseases  is  no  longer  accepted  by  stu- 
dents of  tropical  medicine.  Adults,  to  be  sure,  are  often 
immune,  but  apparently  this  not  true  of  the  race  as  a  whole. 
Vast  numbers  of  children  die  in  infancy  and  early  child- 
hood from  the  same  diseases  which  prevent  the  white  man 
fn^m  {permanently  living  in  the  tropics.  Others  suffer  from 
the  diseases,  but  recover.  They  bear  the  results  with  them 
to  the  grave,  however,  in  the  form  of  enlarged  spleens,  or 
other  grave  injuries  to  the  internal  organs  of  the  body. 
Tlie  world  hav^  of  late  years  been  astonished  at  ravages  of 
pellagra  and  other  di.seases  due  to  such  organisms  as  the 
hookworm.     We  have  found  that  people  who  are  subject 


372  ELLSWORTH   HUNTINGTON 

to  them  cannot  be  highly  competent.  Their  mental 
processes,  as  well  as  their  physical  activity,  are  dulled.  So 
long  as  a  communitj'  is  constantly  afflicted  with  such  dis- 
orders, there  is  little  hope  that  it  can  rise  high  in  th^e  scale 
of  civilization.  All  this  is  now  universally  recognized,  and 
need  not  here  be  further  amplified.  Nothing  is  more  hope- 
ful for  the  tropics  than  the  rapid  progress  which  has  been 
and  is  being  made  in  the  control  of  these  diseases.  If  they 
could  be  eliminated,  not  only  would  the  white  man  be  able 
to  live  permanently  where  now  he  can  be  only  a  sojourner, 
but  the  native  races  would  probably  be  greatly  benefited. 
How  great  this  benefit  would  be  we  cannot  yet  tell,  but  it 
is  highly  probable  that  the  elimination  of  the  diseases  which 
especially  affect  children  in  the  tropics  would  do  much  to 
increase  the  vitality,  energy  and  initiative  of  the  native 
races.  This  in  itself  would  be  an  immeasurable  boon  not 
only  to  the  natives  themselves,  but  to  the  white  man,  who 
would  thereby  be  freed  in  part  from  some  of  his  worst  social 
dangers. 

This  highly  desirable  result  cannot  be  obtained  quickly. 
We  hear  it  said  sometimes  that  the  achievements  of 
the  United  States  in  Panama  prove  that  diseases  can  be 
eliminated  anywhere  in  tropical  countries.  This  is  true, 
but  it  must  be  remembered  that  Panama  is  a  highly  special- 
ized case.  During  the  building  of  the  Canal  a  great  number 
of  people  were  collected  into  a  small  area,  and  enormous 
sums  of  money  were  freely  expended.  Everyone,  too,  was 
subject  to  strict,  semi-military  rule,  and  similar  conditions 
will  presumably  continue  under  civil  rule.  Such  methods 
cannot  be  applied  to  millions  of  square  miles.  The  expense 
would  be  absolutely  prohibitive.  The  ordinary  farmer  in 
tropical  regions  cannot  expect  to  be  protected  by  his  gov- 
ernment. He  must  protect  himself.  In  the  long  run  even 
tropical  races  may  learn  to  do  this,  but  it  will  be  a  difficult 
and  expensive  matter,  and  will  require  a  radical  change  in 
the  people  themselves.  That  change  will  doubtless  come, 
but  not  for  generations,  and  not  until  a  long  selective  proc- 
ess has  gone  on  whereby  those  who  do  not  adopt  modern 


THE    WHITE    MAN    AND    T!JOPICAL    AMERICA  373 

medical  methods  ft)r  preserving  health   will   bo  gradually 
eliminated,  while  those  who  adopt  them  will  persist. 

We  now  come  to  what  seems  to  be  the  most  important 
portion  of  our  subject.     It  is  likewise  the  portion  as  to  which 
we  must  speak  with  the  most  hesitation.     We  may  hope 
that  the  white  man  will  ultimately  cultivate  the  forests, 
traverse  the  waste  places,  elevate  the  native  races,  and  con- 
quer the  diseases  of  the  tropics,  but  will  he  do  this  as  a 
genuine  colonist,  or  as  an  outsider  whose  mind  is  always 
full  of  the  idea  of  getting  back  ''Home?"     The  answer  de- 
pends largely  upon  the  extent  to  which  he  can  permanently 
retain  his  physical,  mental,  and  moral  vigor — not  merely 
for  a  few  years,  but  for  generations.     Hence  we  are  led  to 
inquire  whether  aside  from  the  specific  diseases  which  can 
be  eliminated,  there  is  anything  in  a  tropical  climate  which 
prevents  a  vigorous  development  of  civilization.     I  realize 
that  in  entertaining  this  possibility  I  am  going  counter  to 
the  opinion  of  practically  all  anthropologists,  and  I  am  not 
at  all  confident  that  I  have  reached  a  final  solution.     All 
that  I  can  do  is  to  present  certain  facts  which  have  lately 
been  discovered,  and  show  what  seem  to  be  their  logical 
consequences.     These  facts  seem,  at  first  sight,  most  dis- 
couraging.    Tliey  apparently  indicate  that  even  though  the 
diseases  of  tropical  regions  be  overcome,  northern  races  can- 
not there  be  as  efficient  as  they  are  in  their  own  habitat. 
In  hot  climates  man  appears  to  be  handicapped  by  a  defi- 
nite lowering  not  only  of  his  physical  energy,  but  of  his 
mental  activity  and  moral  vigor.     I  would  hasten  to  add, 
however,  that  this  does  not  mean  that  this  inhibition  of 
activity  cannot  be  counteracted.     It  may  perhaps  be  no 
more   formidable   a   handicap    than   are    tropical   diseases, 
although   its  elimination   will  probably  not   take  place  so 
quickly. 

Before  coming  to  the  causes  of  such  a  climatic  inhibition, 
let  me  call  attention  to  one  of  the  most  notable  and  regret- 
table effects  of  a  tropical  environment.  This  is  the  lack  of 
will  power  which  is  almost  ev(Ty where  displayed  by  a  large 
proportion  of  the  northerners  who  come  to  equatorial  regions. 


374 


ELLSWORTH   HUNTINGTON 


It  manifests  itself  in  four  special  ways,  namely,  in  relative 
lack  of  industry,  in  an  irascible  temper,  in  drunkenness, 
and  in  sexual  indulgence.  For  the  present  we  are  not  con- 
cerned with  whether  these  things  are  due  to  physical  or 
social  environment.  Doubtless  the  two  work  together.  The 
point  upon  which  to  fix  attention  is  that  for  some  reason 
self-control,  which  is  merely  another  name  for  will  pov/er, 
seems  to  diminish  among  practically  all  people  who  go  to 
tropical  countries.  \ 

In  the  amount  of  work  accomplished,  that  is,  in  the  qual- 
ity known  as  industry,  the  difference  between  people  in 
tropical  and  other  climates  is  very  noticeable.  Practically 
every  northerner  who  goes  to  the  torrid  regions  of  America 
says  at  first  that  he  works  as  well  as  at  home,  and  that  he 
finds  the  climate  delightful.  Little  by  httle,  however,  even 
though  he  retains  perfect  health,  he  slows  down.  He  does 
not  work  so  hard  as  before,  nor  does  the  spirit  of  ambition 
prick  him  so  keenly.  If  he  is  on  the  low,  damp  seacoast, 
the  letting  down  process  is  relatively  rapid,  although  its 
duration  may  vary  enormously  in  different  individuals.  In 
the  dry  interior  the  process  is  slower,  and  on  the  high  pla- 
teaus it  may  take  many  years.  Both  in  books  and  in  con- 
versation with  inhabitants  of  tropical  regions  one  finds  prac- 
tical unanimity  as  to  this  tropical  inertia,  and  it  applies 
both  to  body  and  mind.  After  long  sojourn  in  the  tropics 
it  is  hard  to  spur  one's  self  to  the  physical  effort  of  a  difficult 
mountain  climb,  and  it  is  equally  hard  to  force  one's  self 
to  think  out  the  various  steps  in  a  long  chain  of  reasoning. 
The  mind,  like  the  body,  wants  rest.  Both  of  them  can 
be  spurred  to  activity  but  the  activity  exhausts  one's  vital- 
ity. When  we  come  to  the  explanation  of  this  well  recog- 
nized inertia,  however,  there  is  much  divergence  of  opinion. 
One  man  will  say  that  within  the  tropics  the  northerner 
does  not  need  to  work  so  hard  as  farther  north,  because 
salaries  are  higher;  another  says  it  is  because  servants  are 
cheap;  still  another  claims  that  hard  work  is  dangerous  to 
the  health,  and  almost  all  agree  that  "anyhow  one  doesn't 
feel  like  working  down  here."  Probably  all  four  of  these 
factors  cooperate  and  each,  doubtless,  produces  pronounced 


THE   WHITE   MAN    AND   TROPICAL   AMERICA  375 

results,  but  the  last  two,  that  is,  health  and  "feeling,"  seem 
to  be  the  most  important  when  many  generations  are  taken 
into  account.  In  spite  of  individual  exceptions,  it  seems  to 
be  generally  true  that  white  men  who  spur  themselves  up 
to  work  as  hard  within  the  tropics  as  they  do  at  home  are 
in  great  danger  of  breaking  down  in  health.  They  become 
nervous  and  enfeebled,  and  are  likely  to  succumb  to  some 
of  the  many  tropical  diseases.  This  is  one  of  the  most 
powerful  deterents  to  the  development  of  an  efficient  whit« 
population  in  tropical  regions.  If  the  more  energetic  mem- 
bers of  the  community  ruin  their  health,  they  are  pretty 
sure  to  die  before  their  time  unless  they  go  back  to  the 
north.  Thus  if  white  colonization  takes  place  on  a  large 
scale  in  tropical  America  there  is  grave  danger  that  the  less 
energetic  elements  will  be  the  ones  to  persist  and  to  become 
the  ancestors  of  the  future  population.  The  other  factor, 
the  feeling  of  inertia,  may  perhaps  be  interpreted  by  tele- 
ologists  as  a  merciful  provision  of  Providence  to  warn  the 
white  man  that  he  must  not  work  too  hard  in  the  torrid 
zone,  but  that  will  scarcely  help  to  advance  civilization. 
Few  people  will  question  the  reality  of  the  tropical  inertia. 
It  is  the  same  lassitude  which  every  one  feels  on  a  hot  sum- 
mer day — the  inclination  to  sit  down  and  dream,  the  tend- 
ency to  hesitate  before  beginning  a  piece  of  work,  and  to 
refrain  from  plunging  into  the  midst  of  it  in  the  energetic 
way  which  seems  to  be  natural  under  more  stimulating 
conditions. 

Lack  of  will  power  is  shown  by  northerners  in  tropical 
regions  not  only  in  loss  of  energy  and  ambition,  but  in  fits 
of  anger.  The  English  official  who  returns  from  India  is 
commonly  described  as  "choleric."  I'Acry  traveler  in  tropi- 
cal countries  knows  that  he  sometimes  bursts  into  anger  in 
a  way  that  makes  him  utt€rly  ashamed,  and  which  he  would 
scarcely  believe  possible  at  home.  Almost  any  American 
or  European  who  has  traveled  or  resided  in  tropical  America 
will  confess  that  he  has  occasionally  flown  into  a  passion, 
and  perhaps  used  physical  violence,  under  circumstances 
which  at  home  would  merely  have  made  him  vexed.  I'his 
is  due  apparently  to  four  chief  causes.     One  of  these  is  the 


376 


ELLSWORTH   HUNTINGTON 


ordinary  tropical  diseases,  for  when  a  man  has  a  touch  of 
fever,  or  of  some  other  illness,  and  is  afraid  that  he  is  in 
for  a  long  siege,  his  temper  is  apt  to  get  the  better  of  him. 
In  the  second  place,  the  slowness  of  tropical  people  is  terri- 
bly exasperating.  The  impatient  northerner  uses  every  pos- 
sible means  to  make  the  natives  hurry,  or  to  compel  them 
to  keep  their  word  and  do  things  according  to  their  prom- 
ises. His  energy  is  usually  wasted — the  natives  do  not  seem 
to  be  influenced  at  all,  and  the  only  visible  result  is  an 
angry  and  ridiculous  foreigner.  Yet  there  are  often  circum- 
stances where  a  show  of  anger  and  violence  seem  to  be  the 
only  ways  of  getting  things  done,  and  this  is  frequently 
used  as  an  excuse  for  lack  of  self-control.  A  third  reason 
for  choleric  temper  is  found  in  the  fact  that  the  consequences 
of  becoming  angrj^  are  less  dangerous  than  elsewhere,  be- 
cause the  inert  people  of  tropical  America  often  submit  to 
indignities  which  an  ordinary  white  man  would  bitterly 
resent.  Of  course  they  resent  ill  treatment,  and  will  retali- 
iate  if  possible,  but  they  generally  do  not  have  sufficient 
energy  or  cunning  to  make  their  vengeance  effective  against 
the  powerful  white  man.  Finally,  those  who  have  lived  in 
the  tropics  generally  find  that,  even  when  things  go  quite 
smoothly,  and  when  they  are  in  contact  with  people  of 
their  own  kind  and  are  in  comparatively  good  health,  they 
are  on  the  whole  more  irritable  than  at  home.  In  other 
words,  their  power  of  self-control  is  enfeebled.  Of  course 
there  are  many  exceptions,  but  that  does  not  affect  the 
general  principle. 

Drunkenness,  our  third  evidence  of  lack  of  self-control, 
need  scarcely  be  discussed.  The  white  man's  alcohol  in  the 
form  of  rum  is  scarcely  more  injurious  to  the  natives  of 
Africa  than  is  his  alcohol  in  other  forms  in  tropical  America. 
In  most  portions  of  Central  America  the  highly  intoxicating 
drink  known  as  "Agua  ardiente"  ("white-eye"),  can  be 
procured  very  cheaply.  In  some  places,  such  as  Guatemala 
and  parts  of  Mexico,  where  I  speak  from  personal  experi- 
ence, drunken  men  and  women  may  be  seen  upon  the  streets 
at  almost  any  tune  of  day.  Nowhere  else,  during  extensive 
travels  in  America,  Europe  and  Asia,  have  I  ever  seen  so 


THE    WHITE    MAN    AND    TROPICAL    AMEIUCA  377 

much  drunkenness  as  in  Guatemala.  Among;  the  white  men 
who  go  to  tropical  America  a  large  number  drink  as  badly 
as  do  the  natives.  Various  causes  for  this  can  readily  be 
seen.  The  drunkenness  of  the  natives  is  partly  due  to  the 
cheapness  with  which  strong  intoxicants  can  be  prepared 
from  the  lees  of  sugar,  or  other  sources.  That  of  the  white 
men  arises  partly  from  the  constant  heat  which  makes  peo- 
ple want  something  to  drink  at  all  times,  partly  from  the 
monotony  of  life,  and  still  more  from  the  absence  of  the 
social  restraints  which  e.xercise  so  powerful  an  inliii)itory 
influence  at  home.  Back  of  all  these  things,  however,  among 
both  the  white  men  and  natives,  there  seems  to  lie  a  cer- 
tain enfeeblement  of  the  will  which  may  be  closely  con- 
nected with  the  physical  inertia  which  prevents  people  from 
working  hard,  and  with  the  lack  of  self-control  which  mani- 
fests itself  in  bursts  of  anger. 

The  last  of  the  ways  in  which  weakness  of  will  is  evident 
in  tropical  America  is  in  the  relation  of  the  sexes.     Upon 
this  rock  a  large  number  of  northerners  are  wrecked.     It  is 
due  partly  to  the  low  standards  of  the  natives  themselves, 
partly  to  the  mode  of  dress  among  the  women,  which  con- 
stantly calls  attention  to  their  sex,  and  partly  to  the  free 
open  life  which  naturally  prevails  in  warm  countries.     In 
addition  to  this  there  seems  to  be  another  reason.     Either 
the  actual  t<?mptation  to  sexual  excess  is  greater  than  else- 
where, or  else  the  inhibitory  forces  are  weakened  by  the 
same  effects  which  cause  people  to  drink,  to  become  angry, 
and  to  work  slowly.     Perhaps  the  matter  can  best  be  illus- 
trated by  a  remark  of  a  missionary  of  a  small  and  extremely 
devout  .sect,   a   most  austere   man,   whose   whole  soul  was 
devoted  to  preaching  the  gospel.    Speaking  of  Central  Amer- 
ica in  general  he  said:  "When  I  am  in  this  country  evil 
spirits  seem  to  attack  me.     I  suppose  you  would  call   it 
something  el.se,  but  that  is  what  I  think  they  are.     When 
I  am  at  home  in  the  United  States  I  feel  pure  and  true, 
but  when  I  come  here  it  .seems  as  if  lust  was  written  in  the 
very  faces  of  the  people."     His  experience  is  that  of  prac- 
tically  all    northerners.     The   evil   effects  of   undue  sexual 
indulgence  need  not  be  discussed.     I  shall  merely  refer  to 


378  ELLSWORTH   HUNTINGTON 

a  remark  of  Gouldsbiirj^  and  Sheane,  in  their  authoritative 
book  on  the  Great  Plateau  of  Rhodesia.  They  hold  that 
one  of  the  chief  reasons  for  the  backwardness  of  the  people 
of  Rhodesia  is  that  so  large  a  part  of  their  thought  and 
energy,  especially  in  youth,  is  swallowed  up  in  purely  sexual 
matters.  \ 

The  serious  evils  mentioned  in  the  preceding  para- 
graphs, that  is,  a  diminution  of  energy,  outbursts  of  tem- 
per, drunkenness,  and  immorality,  are  ascribed  by  many 
people  to  social  causes.  I  recognize  the  importance  of  this 
view  and  largely  concur  in  it.  Nevertheless,  consideration 
of  some  statistics  which  I  have  recently  compiled  suggests 
that  physical  causes  may  play  an  equally  important  role. 
Two  years  ago,  at  a  conference  on  Japan,  corresponding  to 
our  present  conference  on  South  and  Central  America,  I 
briefly  mentioned  certain  investigations  on  the  effect  of  dif- 
ferent climatic  conditions  upon  human  activity.  The  prob- 
lem which  then  presented  itself  was  to  make  actual  meas- 
urements of  the  effect  produced  by  different  climates.  Ob- 
viously it  is  impossible  to  do  this  directly.  It  might,  of 
course,  be  possible  to  measure  the  efficiency  of  two  similar 
groups  of  people  of  the  same  race,  age  and  general  status, 
under  different  types  of  climatic  conditions.  The  results, 
however,  would  be  absolutely  inconclusive.  It  would  be 
impossible  to  determine  whether  any  differences  which  were 
discovered  were  due  to  original  differences  in  the  people,  to 
differences  in  their  food,  or  to  a  hundred  other  variable 
factors.  Another  possible  test  would  be  to  take  a  given 
group  of  students,  for  example,  whose  homes  were,  let  us 
say,  in  southern  Texas,  but  who  were  studying  in  the  north. 
They  could  be  tested  while  living  in  the  north  and  again  in 
the  south,  but  here  again  the  results  would  have  little  value, 
because  the  change  from  one  place  to  the  other  would  in 
itself  create  a  difference  in  the  minds  of  the  subjects.  It 
would  also  be  practically  impossible  to  make  sure  that  their 
diet,  occupations  and  general  environment,  aside  from  the 
matter  of  climate,  were  the  same  in  both  cases.  After  due 
consideration  of  these  matters,  the  only  practicable  test, 
for  the  present  at  least,  seems  to  be  to  take  a  group  of 


THE   WHITE   MAN   AND   TROPICAL   AMEKICA  379 

people — factory  hands,  for  instance— and  compare  their  efTi- 
ciency  from  day  to  day.  Their  social  environment,  food 
and  mode  of  Hfe  remain  unchanged.  Aside  from  changes 
in  factory  management,  and  other  simihir  matters  for  which 
proper  allowance  can  be  made,  the  only  changes  which  influ- 
ence all  the  members  of  such  a  group  are  those  connected 
with  the  weather,  or  with  the  coming  of  Christmas,  or  simi- 
lar seasonal  occurrences.  By  choosing  people  who  are  do- 
ing piece  work  which  is  recorded  day  by  day,  it  is  possible 
to  determine  the  relative  eiTiciency  on  days  of  any  given 
temi)erature,  or  on  damp  days,  windy  days,  and  so  forth. 
\\'hen  such  data  are  properly  compiled  they  show  how  peo- 
ple would  behave  under  all  sorts  of  climatic  conditions. 

In  pursuance  of  this  object  I  have  obtained  the  statistics 
of  about  500  people  for  each  day  during  the  year.  They  were 
piece  workers  in  factories  in  southern  Connecticut,  partly 
men  and  partly  girls.  In  order  to  combine  mental  and 
physical  work,  I  have  also,  through  the  courtesy  of  Pro- 
fessor Cat  tell  of  Columbia  University,  obtained  figures 
for  tests  of  three  children  upon  the  typewriter.  The  tests 
extended  over  a  period  of  two  years.  They  were  made 
daily  during  the  first  year,  and  weekly  during  the  second. 
A  third  line  of  evidence,  purely  mental  consists  of  the 
daily  marks  of  fifteen  hundred  students  at  the  Military 
Academies  at  Annapolis  and  West  Point.  Thus  we  have 
tests  of  both  physical  and  mental  activity.  Both  types 
show  the  same  phenomena.  I  do  not  here  propose  to  dis- 
cuss the  results  in  detail,  for  they  are  embodied  in  a  series 
of  articles  in  Harper  s  Magazine  and  in  a  volume,  entitled 
The  Distribution  of  Civilization,  shortly  to  be  pul'lished. 
I  shall  merely  give  one  or  two  conclusions. 

The  first  and  most  important  conclusion  is  that  in  spite  of 
man's  boasted  independence  of  climate  by  reason  of  fire,  cloth- 
ing, and  houses,  he  is  influenced  by  the  outside  temperature  in 
much  the  same  way  as  are  plant^s  and  animals.  Biologists  have 
long  known  that  every  species  of  plant  grows  best  at  what 
is  termed  its  "optimum"  temperature.  Growth  begins  at 
a  temperature  a  few  degrees  above  freezing,  but  is  then 
very  slow.     As  the  temperature  rises  the  rate  of  growth 


380  ELLSWORTH   HUNTINGTON 

increases,  slowly  at  first,  then  rapidly,  and  finally  slowly 
once  more  until  the  optimum  is  reached.  Then,  if  the  tem- 
perature rises  still  higher  the  rate  of  growth  begins  to  decline 
and  soon  falls  off  very  rapidly. 

Recent  studies  seem  to  show  conclusively  that  animals  are 
influenced  by  temperature  in  the  same  way  as  plants.  In 
the  case  of  the  crayfish,  for  example,  the  matter  has  been 
investigated  with  great  care.  The  curve  of  activity  of  such 
an  animal  closely  resembles  that  of  plants,  although  of 
course  the  optimum  temperature  varies  according  to  the 
species.  The  method  of  investigation  consists  in  measuring 
the  amount  of  oxygen  consumed  in  a  given  time  at  a  given 
temperature,  or  the  amount  of  carbonic  acid  given  off. 
Other  chemical  reactions  of  the  body  have  also  been  exam- 
ined with  similar  results.  The  whole  subject  is  in  its  infancy, 
but  certain  facts  are  already  clear.  The  activity  of  an 
organism  is  closely  related  to  the  speed  with  which  oxi- 
dation takes  place,  and  the  completeness  and  rapidity 
with  which  waste  products  are  removed  from  the  body.  At 
low  temperatures  plants  and  cold-blooded  animals  cannot 
grow  rapidly  or  be  very  active,  simply  because  the  various 
chemical  processes  of  life  cannot  take  place  fast  enough. 
As  the  temperature  rises  these  processes  all  become  more 
rapid,  and  the  organism  exhibits  greater  energy  which  mani- 
fests itself  either  in  movement  or  in  the  laying  on  of  new 
tissue.  This  continues  until  a  point  is  reached  where  the 
chemical  processes  take  place  so  fast  and  break  down  the 
tissues  so  rapidly  that  it  is  physically  impossible  for  the 
organism  to  get  from  the  air  enough  oxygen  fully  to  oxidize 
the  broken  down  materials.  Unless  these  are  oxidized  they 
are  not  easily  eliminated.  Hence  they  accumulate  in  the 
body,  and  apparently  act  almost  like  poisons.  As  soon  as  this 
occurs  the  activity  of  the  organism  declines,  and  there  is  a 
correspondingly  smaller  necessity  for  oxygen.  Thus  a  certain 
amount  of  oxygen  is  left  unused  by  the  fundamental  life 
processes,  and  is  available  to  oxidize  and  remove  the  inju- 
rious waste  materials  which  have  begun  to  accumulate.  If 
an  organism,  because  of  strength  of  will,  fear  of  enemies, 
desire  for  food,  or  some  other  stimulus,  is  unduly  active  at 


THE   WHITE   MAN    AND   TROPICAL   AMERICA  381 

high  temperatures,  it  lays  up  within  its  own  body  a  store 
of  unoxidized  and  unexcreted  waste  materials  which  either 
lead  to  death,  if  the  unfavorable  conditions  continue,  or 
else  necessitate  periods  of  the  least  possible  activity  in  order 
that  nature  may  restore  the  disturbed  balance.  The  whole 
matter  is  too  complicated  to  be  explained  in  detail,  and  it 
needs  far  more  extensive  study  on  the  part  of  biologists. 
We  do  not  yet  know  how  the  effects  of  temperature  upon 
warm-blooded  animals  compare  with  those  observed  in 
cold-blooded  animals  and  plants.  Nevertheless  the  strik- 
ing resemblance  of  the  curves  of  physical  activity  of  fac- 
tory operatives  and  of  mental  activity  of  students,  on  the 
one  hand,  to  the  curves  of  plant  growth  and  of  physiolog- 
ical activity  among  lower  animals,  on  the  other  hand,  sug- 
gest that  a  close  relationship  between  temperature  and 
activity  is  a  universal  biological  law. 

For  the  people  thus  far  tested,  practically  all  of  whom 
were  descendants  of  the  more  progressive  nations  of  north- 
western Europe,  the  temperature  of  greatest  physical  ef- 
ficiency is  59°  or  60°  F,  while  for  mental  activity  it  may  be 
somewhat  lower.  This  conclusion  is  esj)eciall3''  important 
because  of  the  large  number  of  jieople  involved.  It  agrees 
with  some  results  obtained  by  Lehmann  and  Pedersen  in 
Denmark  on  the  basis  of  three  individuals.  The  fact 
that  e\en  when  only  a  few  individuals  are  tested,  tlie 
relationship  is  apparent  shows  how  univei*sally  the  same 
law  applies.  The  ojitimum  temperature  may  vary  ac- 
cortling  to  the  indi\idual  and  according  to  the  race,  but 
the  amount  of  variation  is  probably  only  a  few  degrees, 
and  it  makes  no  difference  as  to  our  present  conclusions. 
The  common  idea  that  we  are  most  active  in  cold  weather 
is  deceptive.  To  be  sure,  we  are  active  when  we  arc  out 
in  the  cold,  because  we  must  keep  warm,  but  the  actual 
amount  of  work  accomplished  in  winter  is  much  less  than 
in  the  spring  and  fall.  Low  temperature,  however,  docs  not 
seem  to  produce  such  lasting  effects  as  does  warm.  It  may 
cause  the  body  to  burn  up  it,s  materials  Ux)  fast,  but  it  does 
not  load  it  with  harmful  unoxidized  waste,  or  in  some  other 
way   inhibit    activity.      This    apparently    is    why   tropical 


382  ELLSWORTH   HUNTINGTON 

peoples  have  rarely  been  characterized  by  great  achieve- 
ments, and  why  the  white  man  today  is  less  efficient  in  the 
tropics  than  elsewhere. 

In  the  lowlands  of  tropical  America  the  temperature  is 
everywhere  above  the  optimum.  This  means  that  there 
is  no  escape  from  unfavorable  conditions,  and  that  the 
inhabitants  of  that  region,  no  matter  what  their  race,  can- 
not be  expected  to  be  active  in  body  and  especially  in 
mind,  or  strong  in  will  so  long  as  present  conditions  continue. 
This,  however,  is  by  no  means  the  whole  story.  The  work 
done  by  factory  hands  and  others  in  Connecticut  shows  that 
another  climatic  element  is  of  vital  importance.  In  all  the 
cases  examined  it  was  found  that  while  the  mean  tempera- 
ture is  the  most  important  of  the  climatic  factors,  the 
change  of  temperature  from  one  day  to  the  next  has  an 
influence  which  cannot  be  ignored,  and  which  may  be  almost 
equally  great.  If  the  temperature  today  is  the  same  as 
yesterday,  people  work  comparatively  slowly.  If  the  tem- 
perature today  is  higher  or,  more  especially,  lower  than 
yesterday,  people  are  stimulated,  and  the  stimulus  is 
almost  proportional  to  the  amount  of  change.  The  only 
exception  is  that  an  extreme  change  appears  to  be  too  much, 
and  does  not  produce  proportionate  results.  The  way  in 
which  the  stimulus  acts  may  be  illustrated  by  a  simple 
comparison.  Consider  the  difference  between  the  amount 
of  ground  covered  by  a  horse  that  is  allowed  to  go  his  own 
gait  and  by  one  that  is  gently  urged  at  proper  intervals. 
If  the  animal  is  constantly  but  slightly  urged — as  man  would 
be  by  a  temperature  which  is  highly  favorable,  but  which 
never  changes — he  will  go  fairly  fast,  out  will  at  length  be- 
come exhausted.  If  he  is  somewhat  urged,  however,  and 
then  allowed  to  go  more  slowly,  and  then  urged  again,  he 
will  cover  the  ground  faster  than  if  allowed  to  go  his  own 
jogging  gait,  and  he  will  require  less  time  for  rest  because 
he  will  be  less  exhausted.  Apparently  this  is  what  happens 
to  mankind  in  temperate  regions.  Change  from  season  to 
season  sthnulates  him,  and  then  lets  him  fall  back  to  a 
slower  pace;  change  from  day  to  day  has  the  same  effect, 
but  on  a  smaller  scale.     Hence  he  is  kept  up  to  his  work, 


THE    WHITE    MAN   AND   TROPICAL   AMERICA  383 

and  therefore  accomplishes  much.  In  tropical  America  just 
the  opposite  happens.  The  mean  temperature  throughout 
most  of  the  lowlands  is  above  80°  F.  Therefore  the  amount 
of  accomplishment  must  be  relatively  small.  This,  however, 
is  by  no  means  the  worst  feature.  Far  more  injurious  is 
the  fact  that  even  in  the  mountains  where  the  mean  tem- 
perature often  falls  to  a  favorable  level  there  is  no  appre- 
ciable seasonal  stinuilus,  and  no  daily  changes  such  as  ac- 
company our  storms.  Therefore  the  human  horse  gradually 
drops  to  a  low  state  of  efTiciency.  This  is  not  mere  theory 
— it  is  simply  a  logical  application  of  what  actually  happens 
every  year  among  the  people  of  Connecticut  and  other 
part«  of  the  eastern  United  States.  If  those  people  were 
put  into  a  tropical  environment,  and  all  other  conditions 
of  their  environment  remained  exactly  the  same  as  at  pres- 
ent, their  efficiency  would  drop  greatly.  By  special  effort 
they  might  remain  for  a  time  not  far  below  their  present 
level,  but  special  efforts  cannot  last  year  after  year  without 
exhausting  people's  vitality.  Whether  the  decrease  in  effi- 
ciency would  be  10  or  50  per  cent  we  cannot  yet  determine, 
but  it  is  safe  to  say  that  it  would  be  large.  Nor  is  the  mere 
decrease  in  physical  activity  the  most  important  feature  of 
the  case.  Since  common  experience  shows  that  as  a  rule 
our  minds  work  best  when  our  bodies  are  in  good  health, 
and  since  our  investigations  show  that  physical  and  mental 
work  are  influenced  in  essentially  the  same  way,  it  follows 
that  the  high  temperature  and  lack  of  change  in  tropical 
America  presumably  weaken  the  power  of  man's  mind. 
This,  perhaps,  accounts  for  the  fact  that  almost  no  great 
ideas  have  ever  been  born  and  perfected  within  the  tropics. 
The  same  sluggishness  of  mind  which  prevents  the  faculty 
of  invention  from  being  highly  developed  may  account  for 
the  lack  of  will  power  which  seems  to  be  the  greatest  of  all 
tropical  handicaps. 

Taken  as  a  whole  the  results  which  have  just  been  set 
forth  seem  at  first  sight  most  discouraging.  They  seem  to 
impl}'  that  although  the  white  man,  coming  temporarily  as 
a  sojourner,  may  overcome  the  physical  obstacles  of  tropical 
.America,  and  may  learn  to  protect  himself  from  tropical 


384  ELLSWORTH   HUNTINGTON 

diseases  so  that  he  can  dwell  there  permanently,  he  must 
apparently  face  the  fact  that  his  vitality  and,  still  more, 
that  of  his  children,  will  inevitably  be  depressed.  He  will 
not  be  able  to  work  as  he  did  in  more  northern  climates, 
and  he  cannot  have  the  self-control  and  mental  activity 
which  he  there  possessed.  He  goes  to  the  tropics  with  an 
inheritance  vastly  better  than  that  of  the  aborigines,  and 
this  will  stand  him  in  good  stead  for  many  generations,  but 
yet  in  the  end  his  lot  seems  no  better  than  theirs,  for  if  he 
stays  there  permanently,  he  is  in  serious  danger  of  slipping 
slowly  backward,  simply  because  he  cannot  make  the  stren- 
uous exertions  by  which  people  in  more  favored  regions 
are  continually  going  on  to  some  new  achievement. 

This  discouraging  view  is  by  no  means  justified.  It  is 
like  that  of  the  poor  laborers  who  went  about  in  mobs  to 
break  up  machinery  when  the  steam  engine  was  first  intro- 
duced. They  thought  that  machinery  was  taking  the  bread 
from  their  mouths.  They  little  reahzed  that  it  would 
put  into  the  hands  of  their  children  hundreds  of  things 
which  in  their  own  day  were  possible  only  for  the  rich. 
The  view  of  South  America  here  presented  is  in  reality  ex- 
tremely hopeful.  Everyone  recognizes  that  tropical  regions 
are  backward,  and  that,  in  spite  of  all  our  optimistic  talk, 
we  have  made  almost  no  progress  toward  any  permanent 
occupation  or  development  of  millions  of  square  miles  of 
what  are  probably  the  most  productive  regions  in  the  world. 
We  must  frankly  face  the  fact  that  even  the  little  progress 
which  has  been  made  in  recent  decades  is  almost  entirely 
the  work  of  men  from  the  north,  and  that  generally  the 
important  things  are  done  by  the  first  generation,  or  else 
by  people  of  later  generations  whose  lives  have  in  good 
measure  been  spent  in  more  favored  regions  away  from  their 
tropical  homes.  Four  centuries  ago  the  world  stood  face  to 
face  with  the  wonderful  opportunity  of  a  new  world.  For 
a  hundred  years  almost  nothing  was  done  in  the  way  of 
permanent  colonization.  Except  for  a  few  Spanish  colonies 
Europe  was  content  merely  to  explore  and  exploit.  Then 
the  temperate  regions  of  North  America  began  to  be  settled, 
and  to  grow  great,  and  later  their  example  was  followed 


THE   WHITE    MAN   AND   TROPICAL   AMEUICA  385 

by  the  temperate  lands  of  South  America.  Today  our  atti- 
tude toward  the  less  favored  tropical  portions  of  South  and 
Central  America  is  almost  like  that  of  Europe  toward  Amer- 
ica as  a  whole  three  hundred  years  ago.  In  IGOO  A.  D.  not 
a  single  successful  colony  had  been  established  in  what  are 
now  the  most  successful  parts  of  the  New  World.  That 
fact  might  then  have  seemed  as  discouraging  as  does  our 
present  lack  of  success  within  the  tropics. 

The  comparison  that  has  just  been  made  does  not  quite 
cover  the  real  conditions.  We  might  better  compare  our- 
selves with  a  primeval  group  of  naked,  tireless,  houseless 
savages  who  want  to  inhabit  a  land  where  the  winters  are 
long  and  cold.  Such  men  would  say  that  while  an  occa- 
sional man,  hardier  than  his  fellows,  might  stay  in  such  a 
land  through  the  winter,  and  while  it  might  be  possible  for 
many  people  to  go  there  in  summer,  permanent  occupation 
of  the  country  was  absolutely  out  of  the  question.  This 
view  would  not  be  at  all  unreasonable.  Yet  if  some  happy 
accident  led  one  of  the  savages  to  discover  how  warm  a 
man  might  be  when  he  stripped  the  hide  from  a  bear  and 
threw  it  around  himself,  how  quickly  there  would  be  a 
change  of  opinion,  ^^^len  fire  became  known  opinion  would 
change  still  more.  And  when  some  lucky  genius  discovered 
that  a  man  could  pile  up  stones  or  sticks  and  cover  them 
with  mud  or  skins  or  grass  and  thereby  form  a  house  which 
would  keep  out  rain,  snow  and  wind,  and  within  whicli  a 
fire  could  be  made,  would  not  the  whole  tribe  laugh  at  their 
former  lack  of  faith?  Or  rather  would  not  each  one  say 
that  he  had  always  expected  some  such  thing,  and  that  he 
was  on  the  very  point  of  making  a  bearskin  coat,  inventing 
a  house  and  discovering  fire  when  someone  else  got  ahead 
of  him? 

Today  we  are  like  these  savages.  We  have  long  recog- 
nized that  there  is  some  fatal  influence  which  has  kept  trop- 
ical regions  from  developing  on  a  par  with  temperate  regions. 
The  vast  majority  of  us  believe  that  this  is  due  to  climate. 
Our  trouble  has  been  that  we  have  not  understood  exactly 
how  climatic  influences  work.  We  have  not  known  whether 
they   actually   cause   the   human   mind  to   deteriorate,  or 


:LLSW0RTH   HUNTINGTON 

whether  the}'^  merely  hinder  its  development.  We  have  not 
known  whether  the  white  man  can  live  and  thrive  in  the 
tropics,  or  whether  he  must  inevitably  deteriorate.  Only 
one  thing  has  been  clear,  namely,  that  the  most  obvious 
tropical  hindrance  is  the  terrible  prevalence  of  disease.  This 
we  have  attacked,  and  our  final  success  can  scarcely  be 
doubted,  although  there  is  a  vast  amount  still  to  be  done. 
We  have  reached  the  position  of  the  savages  after  they 
discovered  the  use  of  clothing,  but  before  they  had  learned 
to  use  fire  and  houses.  Our  next  task  is  to  find  out  more 
precisely  how  temperature  and  changes  of  temperature,  to- 
gether with  humidity  and  other  climatic  factors,  affect  the 
human  system.  We  must  measure  all  sorts  of  physiologi- 
cal ^and  psychological  functions  in  terms  of  these  factors, 
and  we  must  be  able  to  work  out  the  exact  measure  of  the 
influence  of  any  given  type  of  climate.  Then  we  shall  be 
ready  to  search  for  remedies.  Perhaps  we  shall  devise  some 
mieans  of  varying  our  supply  of  oxygen.  Possibly  we  shall 
give  the  people  of  tropical  regions  the  necessary  variety  of 
climate  by  moving  them  in  wholesale  fashion  from  the 
mountains  to  the  plains  and  back  again  at  short  inter- 
vals. Possibly  we  shall  devise  a  plan  whereby  some 
means  of  creating  the  stimulus  which  now  comes  from  the 
optimum  temperature  and  from  frequent  changes  shall  be 
as  much  a  part  of  a  tropical  house  as  a  stove  or  furnace  is 
a  part  of  a  house  in  regions  with  cold  winters.  All  these 
are  vague  suggestions,  but  they  indicate  the  sort  of  things 
that  may  perhaps  be  done.  The  future  of  South  America 
depends  largely  on  our  success  along  these  lines.  We  have 
conquered  low  temperature  in  large  measure.  Our  next 
great  task  is  to  conquer  the  uniform  heat  of  the  lands  within 
the  tropics. 


INDEX  OF  AUTHORS 


Barrett,  John  C 

BiNOIIAM,  HlR.\M 

Bingham,  IIik.\m 

BOYCK,  W.  D 

Brandon,  Edgar  Ewing.  . . 

Branner,  John  C 

Brown,  Philip  Marshall. 

Cabrera,  Luis 

Callahan,  J.  M 

Chadwick,  F.  E 

(iRAHAME,  Leopold 

Hammond,  John  Hays 

Harding,  Earl 

Hart,  Albert  Bushnell.  . 
Hollander,  Jacob  H 


19  HowLAND,  John 95 

126  Huntington,  Ellsworth 360 

216  Martin,  Selden  O 197 

181  MoNETA,  Jose 328 

_  307  MoNTT,  David 299 

235  Nasmyth,  George  W 321 

245  Pezet,  Federico  A 1 

47  Reynolds,  S.  W 82 

161  Sherrill,  Charles  H 121 

108  Tucker,  CiEorge  F 151 

200  Wells,  Leslie  C 104 

17()  Willis,  Bailey 342 

274  Winter,  Nevin  O 64 

172  Yanes,  Francisco  J 30 

263 


SUBJECT  INDEX 


Anglo  and  Latin  America:  compari- 
son of  inhabitants,  4-10;  conquest 
of  Spaniards,  9-11;  discovery  of 
3-4;  geographic  conditions,  11-12; 
immigration,  12-13,  lG-lS;intcrna- 
tional  relations  of,  1-18;  political 
life.  14-18. 

Argentina:  agriculture,  grazing  and 
commerce,  213,  340.  349-351,  355- 
3.57;  area  and  location,  24;  Argen- 
tine, nation,  physical  basis  of,  342- 
3.59;  forests,  340, 3.52-3,54 ;  immigra- 
tion, 359;  national  development, 
I37;neucleal  region, 347-349;  Para- 
guay, 299-300;  Patagonia,  213- 
214;  physical  conditions  351-357; 
jiopulation,  24,  214;  temperature, 
213,  34.5-347;  trade,  24.  213,  34a 
.341;  waters.  354-355. 

Bolivia:  area.  24,  212;  minerals, 
212;  physical  conditions,  212;  pop- 
ulation, 213;  transportation,  212. 

Brasil:  area  and  location,  23-24; 
customs,  2.*^  2.19;  lack  of  .\meri- 
can  ships  and  steamers,  244;  lan- 
guage, 237-238;  North  .Vmerican 


trade  in  Brazil,  some  of  the  obsta- 
cles, 23.5-244;  packing  goods,  239- 
240;  progress,  215;  relation  to  Ar- 
gentine, 299-300;  tariff,  243-244; 
trade,  214,  235;  transportation 
and  labor  conditions,  214. 

Central  America:  American  inter- 
vention in,  24.5-262;  arbitration 
between  Guatemala  and  .'Salva- 
dor and  Honduras.  245-246;  Hon- 
duras, mediation  in,  246;  Hondu- 
ras revolution  and  treaty,  248; 
Nicaragua  revolution  and  treaty, 
247-248;  peace  conference  at 
Washington,  246-247;  union,  es- 
tablishment of.  251-262;  Wash- 
ington conference  of  1907.  249  251. 

Chile:  area.  24.  212;  minerals,  212; 
physical  conditions,  212;  popula- 
tion. 24.  212; trade,  212. 

Colombia:  arbitration,  its  restora- 
tion, 284-289;  area  and  location, 
25;  righteousness  of  Colombia's 
claims,  276-280;  settlement  with — 
in  justice  to  the  Tnited  States, 
274-289;  transportation,  210. 


3.S7 


388 


SUBJECT   INDEX 


Latin  America:  arbitration,  41-42; 
area,  31;  civilization,  a  glance  at, 
21,  30-46;  commerce,  20-21,  43-45; 
conquests,  9-11;  'Cord  a  Fratres" 
325-326;  cosmopolitan  clubs,  324- 
325;  discovery  of  America,  33-34, 
183-184;  education,  37-41, 307-320; 
geographic  conditions,  11-12,  23, 
32-33;  inhabitants,  4-10;  interna- 
tional relations,  321-327;  nations, 
mind  of  Latin  American,  299-306; 
political  life,  14-18,  42-43;  popu- 
lation, 23,  31;  relations  of  United 
States  with,  290-298;  students  in 
United  States,  322-324;  survey  of, 
24-26;  tariff,  177;  trade,  176-180, 
300-302;  transportation,  22;  uni- 
versities, 21,  34-35;  307-320. 

Mexico :  causes  of  present  situation, 
64-81 ;  democracy  on  trial,  95-103; 
Diaz,  Porfirio,  74-77,  82-92,  105, 
245 ;  economic  aspect,  51-55 ;  Huer- 
ta,  92-106;  Madero,  77-78,  88-91, 
105-106;  Mexican  situation  from 
Mexican  point  of  view,  47-63,  82- 
94;  political  aspect,  55-63;  popu- 
lation, 105-106;  railroads,  49-51; 
situation  as  shaped  by  past  events, 
104-107;  social  aspect,  49-50. 

Monroe  Doctrine:  abandonment  of, 
126-150,  302-303;  defense  of,  143- 
145,  148-171;  future  of,  153-160; 
Germanj'  and,  118;  interpretation 
of,  154-160,  163-167;  Latin  Ameri- 
can opinion  of,  132-143;  meaning 
of,  115-116,  127-132,  151-152; 
modern  meaning  of,  161-171 ;  Mon- 
roe Doctrine  from  a  South  Ameri- 
can view  point,  121-125;  necessity 
of,  in  the  Carribean  region,  116- 
119;] origin  of,  108-111,  151,  161- 
163;  present  day  phase  of.  108-120; 
present  need  of,  in  South  Ameri- 
ca, 112-114;  172-175;  San  Domingo 
and,  119. 


Pan  America,  19-21,  122-125. 

Panama  Canal:  19-21,  27,  116,  126- 
127,  155-156,  274-289;  commerce, 
27-28;  cost,  189-190;  effect,  216- 
234;  effect  of,  upon  west  coast  of 
South  America,  213;  exportation, 
195-196,  226-231;  "Free  Port"  and 
"Free  City"  191-195;  geographic 
condition,  220-224,  232;  meaning, 
27;  optimism,  216-220;  transpor- 
tation, 222-234; 

Patagonia  and  Tierra  Del  Fuego, 
328-341;  agriculture  333,  335,  338, 
340;area, 331, 335;climate, 331-334, 
339;  description  of  natives,  328- 
329,  339;  dispute  over  boundary 
line,  330-331;  education,  332;  im- 
migration, 335;  irrigation,  331, 334; 
mining,  333-334,  337;  population, 
334-335,  340;  transportation,  336, 
337-338,  340-341. 

Peru:  area,  24,  210;  commerce,  211; 
intermountain  region,  211;  irriga- 
tion possibilities,  210-211;  miner- 
als, 211;  population,  211-212;  tem- 
perature, 211. 

San  Domingo:  administration  of 
customs,  264-267;  administrative 
difficulty  and  political  agitation, 
268-270;  American  intervention, 
270-273;  Dominican  convention, 
and  its  lessons,  37,  273;  readjust- 
ment, details  of,  264. 

South  America:  climate,  183-184, 
199;  coal,  lack  of,  201-202;  commer- 
cial condition,  181;  economic  facts 
and  conclusons,  197-215;  Geo- 
graphic groups,  210-211,  origin  of 
people,    183-184;    physical    facts. 

182,  198;  population,  203-206,  214- 
215; tariff,  75; trade, 183-184; 206- 
209, 214 :  transportation  conditions 

183,  200-201. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

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